


You can't Predict the End.

by Chemicallady13



Category: Football RPF, German National Football Team RPF, Germany NT - Fandom, Real Person Fiction, Sports RPF
Genre: Gen, M/M, alternative universe, au!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:03:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3401048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chemicallady13/pseuds/Chemicallady13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On his 25th birthday, Thomas Muller realized that he had just got by with his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happy birthday, Thomas.

**Author's Note:**

> Good evening everyone!  
> I thank you for picking up my fanfiction, which has first been written in Italian (unfortunately my mother tongue) and then translated into English by my friend Arianna!  
> Therefore, there is quite a job behind it (job I haven't done though. I just wrote some ideas for an AU and then ... this came out).  
> So, I want to thank Arianna, I love her ç_ç  
> What else can I say? Enjoy your reading everyone and if you like the story please let me know what you think with a comment or a kudos!
> 
> Every kudos is a smile and every comment is a kiss from Manuel Neuer!
> 
> See you soon,  
> Jessy
> 
>  
> 
> Ps: This is the link for the Italian original version, if you care! // Per tutti gli italiani in ascolto, qui di seguito eccovi il link della storia in italiano. Posterò sempre anche questa versione, all'inizio di ogni capitolo!  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/111586171940/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-uno

***

 

On his 25th birthday, Thomas Müller realized that he had just got by with his life.

It had always revolved around football. He had put himself, body and soul, on the field since he was just a blonde child full of hopes. His parents had been urging him to follow his heart and he seemed good enough to get on in life and to distinguish himself.

He had played on Pähl Under9 Team and then on the Bayern München Young Academy Team. No one could believe that the young skinny boy, who was born and raised in a small village in the Bavarian wasteland, had really managed to pass the selection for the second team of one of the most highly rated teams in the world.

He had had just one goal: to follow Gerd’s footsteps and to become the new number thirteen. “Müller, number thirteen.” He had wanted to win as many championships as he could manage with Bayern München and then…maybe, someday, to be on top of the world, to raise the World Cup over his head surrounded by his teammates. He would have proudly represented his region and his country.

And he was ready to sweat blood to achieve his dreams.

But, at some point, things had gone wrong.

He had never injured himself in seventeen years and therefore never considered it a possibility.

And yet there it was a fracture of his right anterior cruciate ligament, due to an horrible foul he had suffered from the brown-haired Werder Brema defender on the under 18 semi-final.

There was no way his knee could go back to function properly and Thomas had understood it after a series of painful operations and several months of physical therapy. He was slower and his knee hurt _like a bitch_ when the weather changed and the humidity increased…

He was falling back with his trainings and the matches…

He had fallen back from being a promising football player to sitting on the bench.  He had also set a boundary : if he hadn’t made the first team, he would have given up. And he had trained day and night for his big opportunity. He wanted to prove he was still worth it, that he could be determinant for the Eine Bundesliga team.

But sometimes will does not suffice. His childhood best friend, Holger Badstuber, had made it and he hadn’t. And to add insult to injury the chosen one, the boy the talent scouts had picked, was a jerk Thomas couldn’t stand.  

In the end Thomas had given up. He couldn’t picture himself as a semi-pro in a second league team. He was destined for a brilliant future. To him, it was all or nothing.

Back in Pahl, his life had fallen back in the dull routine.

On his junior year in Hauptschule, Thomas had met Lisa. She was beautiful and smart – that was to be expected, after all she was attending the Gymnasium – and she was head over heels for Thomas. It hadn’t been the grand turning point of his life but at least it had been something. He wasn’t sure she was the right person for him but he could pretend like he was pretending he loved his life. Thomas had finally settled for a life as a stableman in Lisa’s parents holiday farm instead of aiming to play in the European Championships against Barça and Chelsea.

They had gotten married when he was only 19. And he was pretty sure that had been probably the most fucked up thing he had ever done. Everyone had tried to talk some sense into him but no one had succeeded since Thomas kept claiming that he was _happy_.

Shortly after that they had moved to Munich. Thomas wasn’t pleased to come back to the city where all his dreams had been shattered but he had to change his mind when he was offered to keep working on the football field.

He was really enjoying being a coach.

He had trained the under 16 team for a couple of years before passing to the under 9 team. He was at ease around kids probably because – as his wife used to tell him – he was still a child himself or maybe because he knew that that was the age when he had made up his mind. In fact according to Thomas 8/9 was the age when you really start knowing yourself and you try to find out what you want to be when you grow up.

He loved his job, he loved watching all his kids scattering around running after the ball, falling and standing back up unfazed. He could escape from reality for five, maybe six hours a day when he joined them on the field or in the gym but his happiness was short-lived because, as soon as he could go back home at night, he realized how he was trapped in a life he hated. There was no way out.

Shit!

That was the reason why he hadn’t been thrilled to be invited by Robert to join him at their usual pub.

There was nothing worth celebrated in 25 years of failures.

 

*** 

 

“WHAT THE HELL, REFEREE! THAT WAS CLEARLY A PENALTY! Even an idiot would have seen it!”

The taller man brought both his hands on his face whining in pain. On his right side a blonde guy grinned “I’m sorry Mandy but if you insist on supporting Wolfsburg…”

“Oh shut up, Schweinsteiger!”

Mario Mandzukic – addressed as Mandy by his friends after a five-a-side football match when the Croatian guy had simulated a foul ridiculously well like the best of the Hollywood actresses – wasn’t well-known for his patience. He was as tall as an NBA player and his shoulders were wide but he was harmless and he hardly used violence but everyone knew it was better not to irritate him.

Thomas turned to him leaning his head on his hand while his friend jolted up and down watching Wolfsburg trying a counter-attack. The team didn’t score.

The action was followed by several curses in Croatian.

Since he had moved to Munich and had become one of Bastian Schweinsteiger’s colleagues, Mandy had become one of them. He was incredibly smart – in fact he had learnt German in record time – and funny to be around. Thomas loved him and he had become one of his best friends in no time even if no one could really understand his love for Wolfsburg. Mandy had probably just chosen it for its colors.

Bastian was the opposite of the Croatian. He was certainly calmer but he was quite the character. He had just turned 30 but he managed to be enough immature for all of them.

Bastian and Holger were Thomas’s best friends but the latter didn’t show up much anymore since he had made it to Bayern’s first team.

But let’s focus back on Bastian: he had a good job, he was the manager of the marketing department of a big multinational that produced shoes and he had met his husband, Lukas Podolski, traveling around Germany.

Poldi, as if it was even possible, was more immature than Bastian. Given that his husband earned enough to support the whole family, Poldi had resigned from his work as dressing operator – an even gayer job than his husband’s - to devote himself to housework and to their children, Julia and Louis, who was born seven years earlier and who was now one of the kids Thomas was coaching, instead of Julia who was just three. 

And it was because of the young girl – or rather because of her bronchitis – that Poldi was missing out that ‘ _awesome_ ’ birthday party.

Wolfsburg was losing against Ausburg and they had run out of Paulaner.

Thomas was about to hang himself when Rob came back from the bathroom and sat on his right side.

Robert Lewandowski was the reason why they had all gathered there and he also was his second-best-friend. Thomas had known him for half the time he had known Bastian but they had immediately bonded.

The only difference between them was that, even if they fooled around, Lewa really loved his wife.

And that was no secret. Either that Robert loved Anna and that Thomas and him had non-verbal conversations and did a lot of horizontal dance, on a bed, to relieve boredom. And they were often bored.

Lewandowski had the best job among them. He was a surgeon at the Städtisches KinderKlinikum München and Thomas was the first to sing the praises on his strong and steady hand.

Despite the friction between Mandy and him – according to Poldi it was because they both represented the ethnic minorities, even if Lukas himself seemed to tend to forget he was polish too – he was the calmer one among them.

Ok, maybe not the calmer one, no one could be quieter than Mario Götze who, as usual, showed up late.

Mario was the youngest man and the others always made sure he couldn’t forget about it. Even if he was 22, they treated him like a younger brother. He had just recently entered the group thanks to Thomas who had met him at work given that Mario was the coach of the girls Under 9 team. In the morning he went to classes at the university to become a physiotherapist,  and according to his grades he was really good.

He was a weird (in a good way), adorable, shy guy. Most of the time he was at the center of the attention.

The six of them had mostly two things in common: the first thing was that they all were rejects of the football world, they had either tried hard and failed or they had just dreamed of it. Thomas’s history had already been told, but the story was pretty much the same for all of them. Mandy hadn’t had enough guts to really give it a try, Robert hadn’t had his father’s support, Poldi hadn’t believed enough in himself and Mario and Bastian had preferred a more safe job.

The second thing they had in common was the love for a peculiar male anatomical part and that was, for sure, what they had bonded over.

Even Mandy, although he kept on defending tooth and nail his non-existent heterosexuality.

“Let’s make a toast, shall we birthday boy?” asked Götze as soon as the waitress put his beer in front of him.

“Alright, let’s do it!” answered him Thomas maybe too firmly raising his beer and clearing his throat formally “To my fucked up life, to my failing marriage and to my dead-end job!”

The others turned to Thomas who was now drinking his beer, then Mandy just shrugged and emptied his own in two draughts.

“I think you just need something new in your life” commented Bastian standing up and wearing his scarf and jacket “Something new, something different.”

“Hey, hey, where you think you’re going?” Lewandowski tried to stop him but the blonde guy was quicker and dodged him sticking his tongue out “Mario has just arrived!”

“I have to go back home, I have a family” answered back Schweinsteiger before bending down to kiss Müller’s nape “Be brave, you’re young, enjoy your life! And please, please, smile!”

“Say hi to Poldi!”

They watched him until he was out of sight on the street. When Bastian disappeared, Mandy took over the reins of the night raising his jug “So, let’s toast to something new for our Müllie”

Everyone mimicked his actions bumping each other’s jugs.

“I just need a miracle…”

Thomas didn’t know it yet but he was praying for something that had already been set in motion.

His birthday night couldn’t go any worse. 

Back at home, Lisa had scolded him for what, in her opinion, he had done wrong so, basically, everything.

Every time the same old story: Thomas just wanted for their arguments to be over but he found himself retorting to his wife because he couldn’t help but answering back. He wasn’t the kind of man who bends his head and says nothing. He was well aware that his job sucked, that he wasn’t earning enough and that he was neglecting his wife to spend time with his friends but that was exactly the point: Thomas didn’t considered her home.

He hadn’t picked a single piece of furniture in the whole apartment.

The wallpaper, the curtains, the sheets… they were just ‘things’ but they made him feel a stranger in his own house. They had been fighting like crazy for hours until the same old neighbor had started to bang on the ceiling with his broom, then they had separated and he had spent the night on the couch.

There was just one thing more depressing than their marriage and it was their sexual life.

 

****

 

“Maybe that’s the reason why she’s mad, don’t you think?”

Thomas chuckled turning to Mario. Given that they worked together, the young Götze was always the first to know about the Bavarian’s homely fun facts. “It could be but I’d rather be fucked by Arjen then!”

By sheer coincidence Arjen Robben, chief of the sport center, walked by and glanced at them making them know it was time to start their classes. They both raised their thumbs up to let him know they had understood what he wanted but as soon as the man disappeared behind the hedges of the sport center, they went back to chat.

“For real though, Mario, I’m about to break. If I didn’t have to go back to Pahl at my parents’, I would have probably already dumped her.”

Mario took a bite of the pretzel that he had bought before going to work and chewed it quickly before speaking again “You can come at my place, don't you? I have a studio and we could put a camp bed there. If you keep going like that, you’re going nuts soon.”

Thomas stared at him with surprise before frowning. He then brought a hand to the back of his neck and scratched it nervously. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to answer me now” commented Mario being sure to clarify that his offer would have stood indefinitely “In case of emergency I have a really comfy couch. Hi Louis!”

Podolski’s son waved back to greet the two men while running to enter the field and going to meet his teammates.

Thomas took a deep breath getting ready to start doing his job when something caught his attention. On the terraces there was a kid. Thomas had noticed him before but he had never really paid attention to him.

The blond kid was sitting alone except for a blue bag almost his size next to his feet. He was just staying there in the cold, wrapped in his grey coat doing nothing but watching the other kids gathered together on the training pitch.

“Mario, hey, do you know who that kid is?” asked Thomas perplexed. He hadn’t really paid attention to him but he was pretty sure the kid had been visiting them for the last four, maybe five days.

Mario narrowed his eyes before shrugging and answering “Maybe he’s just shy and he’s afraid to try for the team.” That said the younger trainer cleaned his hands on his shirt and threw the now empty bag in the closest trash “You should talk to him. At least go find where his parents are.”

Thomas nodded bumping his fist to his friend’s before bringing the whistle to his lips. Just one, long whistle and all the kids were surrounding him. Thomas put his hand on Andrej’s head before looking at his kids and counting them. Everybody was there “Come on, let’s warm up a bit! Let’s start with a ten-laps run.”

The kids didn’t need to be tell twice and they started running pushing each other and laughing. Thomas finally had the time to go find out who the unexpected audience was. The trainer jumped over the small gate and he immediately found the boy’s blue eyes glued to himself. And when Thomas went to sit next to him the kid didn’t run nor he didn’t look troubled.

“Hi!” started cautiously Thomas putting his elbows on his knees to bend down a bit. But the kid didn’t even turn to look at him “My name is Thomas, what’s your name?”

“My dad always tells me not to talk with strangers. “

And with that Thomas had been dismissed.

Thomas hadn’t been dismissed so quickly since a girl had ditched him claiming that with those canine teeth he could be a vampire.

Luckily he was good at his job because he was good with kids. Thomas didn’t flinch but his eyebrows shot up in surprise and he managed to catch the kid’s attention with a simple question “But I’m not a stranger, I’m the coach here and you are a football player, aren’t you?”.

The kid looked at his bag, then at his own shoes and nodded slowly.

The fact that the boy was on the look-out was a good sign because that meant the kid was smart but that also meant that Thomas had to struggle a bit more to find out why he was there all alone.

“Why don’t you go down and train with them then?”

The boy turned to look at him once more and sighed “My daddy is so busy at work to forget to come and enroll me.”

“Oh, I see. So is your dad at work now?” asked Thomas receiving a nod in response. The kid was probably feeling pressured cause his look shot back to the training pitch. Thomas hazarded one more question “Where is your mom then?”

“I don’t have a mom.”

There. Now the situation was awkward.

Trying not to screw up more than he had already done, Thomas shut up for a moment. He gave it some thought before putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder who turned to look at him surprised, not scared but caught off guard.

“Let’s plan something then. Okay, hear me out: why don’t you give me your and your dad’s names and his telephone number so that I can call him and ask him to come enrolling you here?”

The kid thought about it.

“We can’t!”

Thomas frowned “Why not?”

“Because I ran from my babysitter and if daddy gets to know about it, he’ll fire him. I like Marco, he’s just stupid.”

Thomas didn’t immediately get it but as soon as he did the coach burst out laughing and he drew a smile from the kid too “Okay, let’s say I’ll tell him…I could tell him I came to your school to sponsor these football classes and that you gave me his telephone number.”

The boy seemed convinced and in fact he replied happily “I like your plan!”. He then bent down to look for something in his bag and when he sat up again he had a few business cards in his hand. He handed one to Thomas who took it gently.

 _Doc. Manuel Neuer, paediatrician. (_ _0 89) 55 33 85, Prinzregentenstr. 1, 80333 München._

Whoa. Judging by the address and the fancy business card, Mr Neuer should have been something big in his field.

“Perfect! I’ll call him then. But first you have to tell me your name.”

The boy, still not fully convinced, agreed to please the coach and whispered “Mathiak” like he was scared to be reproached.

But nothing happened.

Thomas stood up and put his hand in the boy’s straw-yellow hair.

“Then go change yourself Mathiak. You’re going to train for the team today, for free.”

The boy’s face brightened at that as if he had just received the most beautiful gift of all.

He took his bag and started to go downstairs toward the locker room.

Thomas watched him disappearing behind the corner as if the kid had been inspecting the whole training pitch for all this time.

Damn! The kid could really run fast. Maybe he would have had a future as a winger.

The coach looked down to the business card in his hand. He was ready to lie to a parent hoping not to go to jail for that.

 

 

He couldn’t know that what he was holding was the first step into the miracle he had been dreaming of... 

 

 

 


	2. I'll see you tomorrow then?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, here's the second chapter, thank you for reading the first one and for the great response!!  
> There's a tiny smut scene, not too explicit. I decided not to put it as a warning beacuse they will be rare and brief.  
> As usual, thanks to Arianna, my translator, and also Alexa, my beta.  
> I'll post the next chapter as soon as it will be ready. 
> 
> Enjoy, 
> 
> Jessy.
> 
>  
> 
> Ps. Per tutti gli italiani in ascolto, eccovi il link per il capitolo nella nostra bella - circa- lingua!  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/111916591655/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-secondo

*******

 

A desk cluttered with papers at 7.30pm was the most sad thing Manuel could think of.

He sighed taking one of the folders opened it and put it in front  of him on his desk.

He had wasted his precious time having an argument with one of the surgeons in the morning – a douche called Lewandowski or something – and now he had to finish examining those medical reports.

Manuel sighed sadly once more,  looking down at his son’s picture next to screen before taking off his glasses to rub his tired eyes.

He would have to work for two more hours, AT LEAST, and that meant to be home around 10pm.

Again.

He knew he was a great doctor, but a shitty father. Would the contrary have been better? It was hard to say. The point was he had found himself alone and with a child overnight. Just now he was getting used to that vaguely normal routine after months of depression. And yet he was struggling to find his balance and the only one who was taking the consequences of his actions was Mati.

The babysitter he had hired for his son was very good with him but Manuel was his father. He had to take care of him, not some random guy.

Dejected by his own thoughts Manuel started to sign all the papers in front of him focusing on the medical reports and the prescriptions of the different drugs.

One hour later the stack had been drastically reduced and there were only two more folders on the desk. 

He took the second-last and started to read about this particularly difficult case of bronchitis when the door opened after a soft knock. From behind it the chief of the novices emerged smiling shyly as for asking to come in.

“What? Tell me Juan.” answered Manuel taking his glasses off and putting them on the desk waiting for an answer.

The boy came in closing the door behind him and leaning on it for a while before stepping forward hesitant. Almost everybody at the clinic thought that the new paediatrician was way too much serious and faithful to his duty. After having witnessed at the argument between him and Robert who, after all, was the Munchen Kinderklinik head of the surgery unit and not the first idiot in the neighborhood, Juan was starting to be afraid of the new doctor.

“I’m sorry to bother you doctor” started to say the young Spanish boy, trying not to make mistakes. Even if he had graduated there, German was still a problem to him “There’s a call for you.”

Manuel looked at him surprised before lowering his eyes to the phone on the desk and noticing the red flashing light. “Damn, I didn’t notice it!” answered back quickly before taking the receiver and bring it to his ear. “Thank you Juan. Would you bring me a coffee, please? You can use my card and buy something for yourself, too.”

The boy smiled and nodded before leaving the room casting doubts on Mitchell’s theory that claimed doctor Neuer was a member of the Gestapo.

Manuel waited until he was sure the door was closed before pressing the button and receiving the call. He suddenly hoped that it wasn’t about Mati.

 “Hello?”

A brief silence and then a surprised voice who probably belonged to someone who wasn’t hoping anymore to be answered to, ruined the moment – _Am I speaking to Doctor Manuel Neuer? –_

Manuel closed the folder and leant on the back of his chair praying that this man who was looking for him wasn’t from his ward. If that was the case Manuel would have never been home until very late.

“Yes, you are. WWho do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

The doctor turned to be extremely sarcastic when he was tired and he almost felt bad for the poor guy on the other end of the line. He was exhausted and he just wanted to go home, have dinner and then let himself die on the couch.

_“- Hmmm…Hi. My name is Thomas Müller. I’m calling you about your son Mathiak.-“_

Then it was panic.

Manuel darted to sit up straight hitting his knee on the desk in the process while he came up with a hundred scenarios, one more catastrophic than the other.

“What happened?” asked him anxiously.

Luckily this Thomas seemed to be more reactive now _– Nothing happened! –_ answered quickly almost yelling – _I’m the coach of the Under 9 Team at the Talenttage football school. Today we presented our courses to your son’s school and he gave me your business card. He also told me you’re a very busy man so I thought we could meet to talk about Mathiak’s enrollment…-_

Manuel calmed down and came back to lean on the back of his chair. He brought a hand on his knee massaging it slowly. He had jolted up so quickly he had hurt himself.

“Yeah, about that… I start working early and I go home late at night. The fact is we moved here recently and I still have to…I still have to find my pace.”

Why was he justifying his actions with a complete stranger? It wasn’t even the first time he had done that, not since he had moved to Munich. He knew he was a shitty father who was neglecting his own child who was just asking to be enrolled in some football classes.

A sense of guilt was eating him alive.

_“- We could arrange an appointment in the afternoon or in the morning on a day you can receive me. As for the monthly installment we can discuss it then or you can pay for the whole year. After all you just have to sign a couple papers, I won’t waste too much of your time..-”_

Manuel thought about it and immediately grabbed his diary. He was surely really busy but he would have found the time to meet his son’s coach and enroll him. At least the boy would have made some friends and wouldn’t have thought about their new tormented life, about their move and about everything that had happened between Manuel and his husband…

The only person who was suffering the consequences of this situation was Mati.

“Are you okay to meet up with me at 9am tomorrow morning?”

On the other end of the line there was complete silence.

Manuel stood still, with a pencil in his hand drumming on that minuscule blank space in a life full of appointments.

“….hello?”

_“-9 am?”_

The doctor frowned “Yes, 9 am.”

A long, heavy sigh reached Manuel’s ear. Then the coach spoke again _“Ok, 9 am. Should I ask for you?”_

“Yes, you should come here at the Kinderklinik. I’ll leave a note for my trainee and he’ll accompany you to my office.”

They discussed the amount of money Manuel had to pay for a whole year course, then they exchanged civilities and said their goodbyes.

“Thank you, Herr Müller.”

_“-You’re welcome. Have a good night.”_

It was almost 9.15pm.

Manuel hanged up the receiver before sighing. He then took the two left folders in his hand and put them in his briefcase with his laptop and his glasses that had been previously put in their spectacle case with utmost care.

He took off his overall, wore his black coat and grabbing the briefcase on the table he also remembered to leave a note for Juan about Mr. Müller’s appointment.

He just wanted to see his son and he knew that if he hurried he would have come home on time to put his son to bed.

Manuel went to the underground parking lot, reached his car and drove off. Their house wasn’t so far away and it wasn’t the rush hour so the journey went smooth. He reached the Isar bridge thrilling to be home as soon as he could and when the car was finally parked in their driveway Manuel let out a sigh of relief.

When he stepped in the hallway, he found himself facing a waiting huge Bernese Mountain Dog.

“Hi Nancy!” said Manuel bending to cuddle their dog who was sprawled in front of him occupying the whole entryway. He stepped over her being careful not to step on her paws and he entered the living room. There, sat at the table, there was a blond young guy.

Marco Reus was Mats Hummels’s best friend. Mats was Manuel’s best friend’s, Benedikt Howedes, best friend. When Benny had found out that Manuel was moving to Munich, he had asked to his friend to take Marco with him, as a personal favor.

The young guy had succeeded in getting admitted in the finest university in Dortmund, his native town, pretty close to Manuel and Benny’s one, Gelserkinchen, but he hadn’t been happy there and, according to him, the best paediatric rehabilitation classes took place in Munich anyway.

Marco was, in fact, a male nurse already but he was also great with children and because of that he had planned to study for a couple more years to become a children’s ward male nurse.

Manuel hadn’t complained, he liked the guy because he was great with Mati and so they had made a deal: Manuel would have given him hospitality in exchange of his babysitting job. After all he was the new head of the children’s ward, he had accepted that job offer on the spot even if he had worked in a private office all his life, so they had worked out the blond guy’s schedule together.

“Hey, hi!”

“Hi stranger!”

Marco raised his face from the heavy histology book he was studying, smiling broadly.

“I wasn’t waiting for you for another thirty minutes at least.”

“You already put him to bed?” asked him Manuel putting his briefcase on the armchair and quickly unbuttoning his black coat.

“Yes, just ten minutes ago. If you hurry, he’ll surely be still awake.”

That was exactly the answer he was hoping for.

Manuel reached the stairs and climbed them quickly before stopping in front of his son’s bedroom. He cracked it open trying not to make noise and stuck his head inside wondering if the young boy was still awake. The scene in front of him made him smile tenderly.

The big bunk bed was surrounded by darkness except for a little light coming from the hallway. In Mati’s bed, a bunch of blankets were the sign that something odd was clearly going on.

Manuel went close trying not to make noise and all of a sudden he pushed away all the sheets. And there he was, Mathiak, buried under the blankets, holding a torch. The kid looked at him wide-eyed, scared that Marco might have found him but as soon as he realized who was the man in front him, the boy’s expression changed all of a sudden.

“Daaaad! You’re home early tonight!”

The kid was now yelling contentedly raising his arms to hug Manuel who was bending over to hug his son back.

“It’s still too late!” corrected him the loving dad sitting next to the boy while holding him. In the last two days the doctor had come home too late and he had found Mati already asleep in his bed.

“What are you doing, you little terror?” asked him letting the boy go.

“Nothing!” defended himself the kid trying to hide the comic book  he was reading. His father, however, was quicker and took it.

“Captain America?” asked him surprised Manuel, while opening it and glancing through the pages “Where does it come from?”

“Marco bought it for me” answered Mati taking his precious treasure back in his hands and assuring himself that his father hadn’t ruined it glancing through it with nonchalance “I decided to start collecting them.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer Batman?” asked him Manuel earning a disgusted look in response. “Hey, what’s that look for? I love Batman!”

“D.C. sucks, dad!”

The doctor raised an eyebrow “Who does teach you this kind of words uh? Let’s moderate your language, young boy!”

As much as he wanted to, Manuel couldn’t reproach Mathiak harshly. He just brought his hand to his son’s hair and ruffled his blond hair making him laugh.

Even if he was generally so serious and precise, he really wasn’t strict…

“But now it’s time to sleep, football classes start tomorrow..”

The boy’s eyes, so identical to his own that they could have been his reflection in the mirror, brightened up.

“Did you enroll me?”

“Your coach called me and he’s stopping by tomorrow.” reassured him Manuel accepting the hug from the boy in his arms. Mati really was beaming and that was enough to make his dad happy too.

“Now, under the covers!”

Obediently, Matiak slipped into the bed and let his dad tuck his covers up. And right then, when his father bent down to kiss him goodnight, the boy asked that question he had been thinking about for days and that now needed a precise answer. “Daddy…” called him Mati, almost scared, waiting for Manuel to look at him before keep going “….when will papa Iker come home?”

Manuel froze, caught off guard.

Somewhere deep inside Manuel had known that, sooner or later, he would have had to broach the thorny subject but he had hoped not so soon. He sat back on the bed caressing the boy tenderly before sighing deeply.

There wasn’t a pleasant way to say it. He had just to be honest.

“I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know..”

Mati noticed sadness in his father’s eyes and smiled fondly “I’m sure he’ll be back soon, don’t worry daddy!”

Manuel bent over kissing his forehead once more while he felt his nose itching.

Mathiak was an incredibly smart kid despite being 8 years old and Manuel wasn’t shocked at all realizing that the boy was trying to comfort him the best way he knew. It shouldn’t have been that way, though.

“I think so too. But now off to sleep, tomorrow will be your big day..”

“Will you come and get me at practice as you used to do when we still lived in Gelserkinchen?”

Manuel smiled lightly standing up and walking to the door and leaning on it “I’ll do my best, I promise. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, daddy.”

Manuel closed the door before leaning his back on it. His eyes shut briefly and he brought his hands to his face. That whole situation was a nightmare.

Unconsciously he was asking for a one, single miracle: a single change in his messed up life.

 

***

 

A louder moan, almost a growl, left Thomas’s lips.

Under the black blindfold, his eyes opened again but he obviously couldn’t see a thing  in the room.

“You and your fucking ideas….God, Robb…Move!”

A light satisfied laugh came from down there, to be precise from in between Thomas’s legs.

Lewandowski licked Thomas’s length a couple times before detaching his lips from Thomas’s cock and lifting up leaving a trail of kisses and bites on his best friend’s torso.

“As if you despise my fucking ideas…” whispered the Polish man sensually making the other pant more while laying down on him to make their chests touch.

Robert brought a hand on Thomas’s tied wrists to make sure the belt that was holding him against the headboard wasn’t hurting him.

“I admit I---I don’t really… h—h—hate them..”

Answering coherently was becoming a hard task.

His salivation was almost inexistent by now and the groans and the moans weren’t helping either.

“..but I have to be u—u---up at 7am tomorrow morning. I have something to do at 9 o’clock.”

Robert shot his head up in shock “And why should you wake up before noon?”

“Can we talk about it later?”

The Polish man chuckled focusing back on the man under him.

Thomas had been wondering for a while now why they even keep on fucking,  given that in the end it wasn’t anything but mechanics. A little lube, no clothes and a hotel room they booked twice a week to spend some time together.

According to Rob, they could have taken up on Gotze’s kind hospitality instead of spending money on the room – _his_ money, to be precise – but Thomas hadn’t agreed to it. He had preferred to settle like that.

He had his reasons: when Robert took him like that, fucking him until he blacked out, Thomas withdrew into himself as he did when he was on the training field. It was nice for one of his best friends to help him forget about his failing marriage and screwed up life.

Thomas felt Lewandowski slipping into him and moaned louder than ever until their moans turned into a sing-song. During their whole intercourse, Thomas’s brain blacked out. He let his emotions have the better on him.  

When everything was over  he fell back on the mattress,  worn-out and with sore wrists but completely satisfied, Thomas had to go back to reality.

Robert rolled on him pressing on his body and causing Thomas to let out a very unhappy groan “So, why have you to wake up so early?” asked the Polish man curious, leaning on his elbow not to press too much on the other man.

The youngest sighed re-opening his eyes tiredly. He couldn’t sleep there even if he had dreamed of it more than once. He had to go back home and set the alarm. He just hoped that Lisa wouldn’t have to wake up early as well,  considering  that usually she went to work around 10am. He didn’t want to see her when he was barely awake, he didn’t want to fight so early in the morning.

“I have to meet up with one of my kids’ father to make him sign the application forms.” answered Thomas in a dull tone of voice before realizing something “You could come and get me. He works at the hospital as well!”

Robert raised a eyebrow “At the hospital? Who is he?”

Thomas sat back comfortably,  looking at him and starting to look around for his clothes “Manuel…Neuer. Doctor Manuel Neuer, I think.”

What happened next let Thomas really, really perplexed.

Lewandowski sat back too grabbing his boxer-briefs, standing up to wear them and throwing his friend’s to him “Good luck with that! He’s a living nervous breakdown with a bit of humanity attached.”

The man blinked a couple of times in shock “He sounded so calm on the phone…”

“Maybe he had just drank his coffee… We had an argument today because he wanted me to operate on a kid who didn’t need any kind of surgery. You should have seen how he treated me when I discharged the poor  boy!”

It wasn’t that bad. He was about to meet with an old doctor – even if, based on the conversation they had had on the phone, he didn’t sound old at all – who would have surely given him a piece of his mind.

Really, there was no better way to start his day.

“I’m just doing it for Mathiak. That kid needs a friend…”

With his sweatshirt and his jeans on, Thomas walked sadly to the door.

He took his coat which was in the same spot where Robert had thrown it while undressing him and wore it quickly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

The older man looked at him with amusement, taking his cell phone from the back pocket of his black trousers “I’ll be at your place at 8am sharp. Say hello to Lisa for me.”

“And you say hello to Anna for me.” retorted with a crooked smile Thomas.

They were living two very different situations.

 Robert was cheating on Anna with every guy he laid his eyes on but he was really in love with her, and the feeling was mutual.

They were the kind of couple you couldn’t do anything but be jealous of.

She was a nutritionist, one of those woman who took health seriously and trained all day long. She was able to talk you into going on a diet without you really acknowledging it. He was the best surgeon at the Kinderklinik.

They were successful and beautiful. They had a beautiful family too. Their kid, Andrej, was one of Thomas’s best players. He was so good that everyone was sure he was going to be a famous football player someday.

To be honest there wasn’t anything wrong in their perfect family picture. Robert knew that Anna had cheated on him more than once – with her yoga trainer, the karate trainer and the pool guy as in the worst teen movies – and she knew about his lovers.

And anything of that had damaged their marriage or their love.

You could have said they had an open relationship and Thomas admired them.

He wasn’t even on speaking terms with his wife anymore. He was nervous walking in his own house.

And because of that Thomas spent at least twenty minutes in his car listening to old Smith’s songs. When 11 o’clock stroke and he remembered he had to wake up early in the morning, Thomas left his car and climbed the outside staircase to reach his apartment. Lights were off and the duvet on the couch was a clear sign that Lisa had thrown him out of their bedroom. Again.

About two months earlier they had made quite the scene. She had accused him to cheat on her with another woman and he had answered ‘you wish, at least you would have a reason to treat me like you do.’

The slap that had followed his statement wasn’t planned but their break-up was. He was now sleeping more on the couch than in his own bed but he wasn’t complaining about it. At least now he could do whatever he wanted to instead of sleeping on the side of a bed where he wasn’t welcomed.

Thomas was even going to leave the house at some point. No children were involved so they could divorce easily but he hadn’t enough courage to take the situation in his hands and, clearly, neither had her.

They were tergiversating even if they were both sure there was nothing more they could try to save of their marriage.

Without even wearing his pj, Thomas slipped under the duvet turning on their tv.

He stretched and snuggled on his pillow and he realized there was a bright side about all this situation after all: he had the television all to himself and he wouldn’t have had to change in new clothes the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it, in this case leave a comment or a kudos.  
> See you soon! :D


	3. If I have the chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!  
> First of all, let's celebrate the amazing winning at the tonight match.  
> Go Bayern :D
> 
> Thanks everyone! In particular who left me a kudos.  
> No more comments for me? :(  
> That make me sad!  
> I love have to have and answer from you guys, and answer too! 
> 
> So, thats the new Chapter!  
> Enjoy ;)
> 
> Ps. Ecco il link per gli italiani, che avevo dimenticato çç  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/112472379360/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-tre

*******

 

_Jeez, I hate hospitals._

This was the only thing Thomas could think of while he was waiting to be received by Dr. Neuer.

He was sprawled out on a small armchair in a waiting room surrounded by _that_ smell, the usual way-too-white walls and the nurses feigning an over excessive kindness.

Everything around him was bringing back memories of the painful knees surgery and he couldn’t help but feel nauseous and uncomfortable in that environment.

He was just hoping for his appointment to be over quickly. He wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

He toyed for a while with the folder in his hands then he checked the time. It was 9.40am already. A snort escaped from his lips before grimacing in disapproval.

Fuck! He could have slept an hour more.

He was about to stand up and leave given that he was there to make someone a favor and not for his own need, when finally the door opened and a red haired woman came out of the consulting room holding an obviously sickly child in her arms.

She was followed by a boy. He was a dark-haired, dark-skinned man with black eyes…

The young man scanned the room before focusing on Thomas and asking “Senor Müller?” with a very strong Spanish accent. The coach jerked up.

“Please, follow me. The doctor is waiting for you.”

Escaping a couple of mom’s annoyed notice, Thomas followed him closely. Being in a hospital made everyone nervous.

“The doctor apologizes for the delay” commented the young Spanish man leading the way in a long, narrow corridor “Unfortunately there was an emergency call.”

“Don’t worry! I have nothing else to do.”

 _Nothing but to sleep,_ thought to himself Thomas trying his best not to show it. Apparently there was no one to blame except maybe a long breakfast. He couldn’t know it though.

The young trainee stopped facing a door to knock on it lightly and waiting for an answer before opening it and popped his head in “Doctor, there’s Senor Müller for you.”

A not so high voice came from the consulting room but Thomas was too taken up with reading the nameplates on the doors to care about it.

“Thank you Juan, go take your break while I take care of this.”

The boy stepped aside and encouraged Thomas to enter the room before disappearing behind one of the many white doors in the hallway.

Thomas couldn’t delay it any longer – and he didn’t want to do it anyway given that his loved couch and a bowl of popcorn were waiting for him – so he took a deep breath and went in.

During their short ride to the clinic, Robert had told him a few things, a few anecdotes about this new doctor and Thomas had been able to picture him; he was expecting to meet a bitter middle-aged doctor ready to judge him harshly because he had dared to waste his precious time at work. He was expecting a really quick appointment during which the doctor would have signed all the papers before handing him a bunch of fresh new banknotes – and this was because his business card was so sophisticated he had pictured him filthy rich –before throwing him out of the consulting room unceremoniously.

He was supposed to save lives and to stitch up a bunch of teddy bears, why was even going to waste his time on some useless, ordinary football coach?

Well, he had to rethink every bit of it as soon as he stepped into the room.

Sat on his black leather swivel chair, there was the most beautiful creature Thomas had ever laid his eyes on.

Odd Robert hadn’t mentioned how attractive Dr. Neuer was.

The Bavarian man was frozen on the doorway by the celestial vision while trying to figure out if the man was a real angel or if he was still soundly asleep on his couch and he was just dreaming it.

The final blow was stricken when the doctor raised his blue, limpid eyes to meet Thomas’s.

The coach’s salivation zeroed all of a sudden while he was desperately trying to walk straight and not to make a fool of himself in record time. He was _trying_ but his brain didn’t seem to cooperate.

“Good morning” started off Manuel politely and Thomas realized that even his voice was perfect, pure music. The doctor took off his glasses and invited him to sit on the chair in front of him “Please, take a seat.”

Now sat on the small armchair in front of Manuel’s desk, Thomas felt himself a little more stable but still voiceless. He didn’t bother him given that the doctor looked busy checking on something on the screen in front of him, so he waited anxiously for Dr. Neuer to meet his eyes once more.

When it finally happened, Thomas blushed furiously and was obliged to avoid that look he had craved for because it was unbearable.

“I’m Manuel, nice to meet you.” presented himself the doctor shaking the coach’s hand.

Thomas was barely able to syllable his own name while hoping that his hand wasn’t sweaty before his brain finally realized he had to take a hold of himself and try to act like a grown-up. He was 25, for God’s sake, not 13.

In his defense Thomas had been told Manuel was 50….but in the end Lewandowski hadn’t mention his real appearance or his personality at all. In fact the doctor was revealing himself as quite the opposite of what Thomas had been told. He had even presented himself by his name and not by surname…

“So let’s get down to business, shall we Mr. Müller?” started off Manuel, probably tired to wait for Thomas to speak which made the coach feel even more dumb “Explain me how this course works”

“Yeah, of course.” answered Thomas abruptly taking one of the papers to put it on the desk. When he lost hold of it, the Bavarian literally threw himself under the table to reach it and in the act his head hit the wooden table with a loud thump.

“Is everything ok?” asked Manuel while the coach sat back in his small armchair scratching the back of his neck. He didn’t look annoyed at all and you could have said he was amused by the scene even if he was trying to contain himself.

“I’m so sorry.”

The situation was slowly going downhill so Thomas had to summon all his composure to try to make a good impression. Clearing his throat Thomas tried to rely on that last bit of self-respect he still had.

“This course started a couple weeks ago but the junior championship hasn’t yet. They’ll play their first match in ten days so up to now I’ve been training the kids to… I mean, you know? To get in shape after summer.”

It had been quite the speech: Thomas was digging his own grave with his own words. He was looking like a dumbass and maybe he was. So he cleared his throat once more staring at the man in front of him who didn’t look annoyed or irritated at all. On the contrary, the doctor was clearly paying attention.

“My son has been playing football since he’s 5” commented Manuel proudly “Let’s say it runs in the family! I don’t think trainings will be a problem. Can he start immediately?”

“Of course. This is the timetable. Don’t worry, Mathiak already has his own copy.”

Thomas handed him a couple more papers and starting to discuss a few more technicalities. And there, in giving the doctor that speech he had made to lots of parents before, Thomas regained his confidence. Then Manuel informed him that it would have been Mathiak’s babysitter to accompany the kid to his trainings but the doctor stressed the fact that he would have tried his best to be as present as possible.

“It was me who accompanied him to football practice in Gelsenkirchen” continued Manuel writing the check and handing it to Thomas who put it in the folder in his backpack with all the signed papers he would have deposited later at the center “Either me or his papa, just to be clear.”

Thomas froze while clouds over his head parted and a bright light brightened up his life.

He raised his bewildered eyes on the doctor who misunderstood it and commented with a cold “I hope it’s not a problem that Mathiak has two dads.” He looked irritated by the fact that Thomas didn’t seem to understand what he was saying.

He couldn’t be more wrong than that.

Thomas simply couldn’t conceive that, _maybe_ , he had a slight remote chance to end in bed with that celestial creature.

“No, no! Absolutely not!” hurried up to answer back the coach raising his hands up and flapping them as if he was trying to banish every bad thought “Actually…me too.. I mean… I don’t disdain male company, if you know what I mean!”

Manuel raised an eyebrow before looking at the wedding ring on the coach’s right ring finger and misunderstanding everything once more “Are you married Mr. Muller?”

“Oh yes, but with a woman. But you know how this works…I mean…If I have the chance…”

Dumbass.

He brought a hand to his face while his gaze lowered to the blue floor tiles of the consulting room. He was looking for the quickest and practical way to kill himself. He could have hanged himself with the Schalke 04 scarf pinned up on the wall behind the doctor or he could simply stabbed himself with the paper knife.

Had he just say that aloud? Apparently he had and the most evident proof of that was the awkward silence they had fell in.

“Ok, Mr. Müller” said Manuel sitting straight in his chair either slightly uncomfortable or just unconvinced “If we’re done here, I should go back to my patients now..”

“Yes, sorry if I wasted your time.”

Thomas jerked up shaking his hand once more.

“I’ll see at Mathiak’s matches then.”

Manuel smiled briefly before wearing his glasses “I’ll do my best about that. Have a good day.”

“Goodbye.”

In less than no time Thomas was out of the Kinderklinik staring at the cloudy sky.

He was wondering why he had acted like that.

 

**

 

“No!No!Wait! Did you really tell him that ‘if you have the chance’ you have sex with men?”

Mandy’s laughter was so loud that all the people sitting next to their table turned around to look at them. He was laughing so hard he was crying and when the Croatian started to bang his fist on the table, Bastian felt it was the right time to chime in.

“I’m sure he didn’t notice” said him the blond man caressing Thomas’s arm before watching his friend banging his head on the wall.

Mandy twisted the knife in the wound though.

“You really think he didn’t notice? Oh come, Dr. _Mc Dreamy_ threw him out! Listen to me Thommie, you should really just focus on Lewandowski because your flirting technique sucks.”

Not even Schweinsteiger’s worst side glance could stop him, so the blond man decided to ignore him and simply try to take his friend’s mind off the matter “Look, you shouldn’t worry about that any way. You should focus on the fact that you couldn’t stand a chance anyway if he’s married.”

“It depends on what kind of married man he is.”

Poldi sat down next to his husband and put a hot coffee on the table in front of him before starting to pour a surely unhealthy amount of sugar in it.

“Not everybody is like us, Schatz.”

“You said he didn’t have any photo of his husband on the desk, right?”

Everyone turned to look at Mandy who had just asked the question. Thomas shrugged in response.

“That must be a sign.”

“There were a couple of pictures of his son on the desk.. I’m sure I would have noticed the photo of another man if it had been there.” answered back Thomas absent-mindedly

“Then they must be separated or they cheat on each other.”

Poldinodded with a knowing look on his face while Bastian rolled his eyes at them “Why don’t you ask to Robert then? Aren’t they colleagues?”

“Because according to him I was going to meet some kind of monster. But he was so…. I’d say, professional. And kind, polite. Guys you really have no idea how good looking this man is, I was feeling like I was 14 again.”

“You’re still acting like you’re 14 though.” chuckled Mandy immediately interrupted by his phone which had started ringing. The screen lighted up and the picture of some boy appeared on it.

Bastian leaned over to glance at it before grimacing with the knowing look of someone who had understood the real meaning of life “Antoine? The accounting guy?”

“Oh, Mandy’s lover boy!” yelled Poldi while, once again, everyone turned around to look at them quizzically.

They were enjoying having lunch together in the small coffee shop next to Mandzukic and Bastian’s office but now that everyone was staring, the broad Croatian man started to feel embarrassed so he simply stood up and with an angry tone commented “You’re three assholes” while his friends laughed up their sleeves.

“I’m going back to work, see ya. I’m a real worker, I’m not a manager who spends all his time on Facebook.”

That said, Mandy disappeared accepting the call.

“How does this Antoine look like? Is he any cute?” asked Thomas with mischief sipping on his frappuccino.

“He’s French.” was the only answer they got from Schweinsteiger who could feel his jealous husband’s eyes on his back “He’s nothing special. He’s funny”

“Did you spend a lot of time with him?” asked Podolski folding his arms to his chest.

As if threatened by his husband, Bastian shot up his hands up pouting “I surrender! I surrender!”

He was actually yelling by now and Poldi couldn’t do anything but laughing at that before engulfing him in a hug.

“He is an employee so yes, I spend half of my day with him. But you know, _the half I spend with you is my favorite part._ ”

Thomas watched them kissing not knowing if he wanted to throw up because of their sometimes excessive display of love or he just wanted to read the sport news. Usually it took a while before they could stop sucking faces.

With a deep sigh, Thomas set the paper upright.

Luckily it didn’t take long before Bastian stood up after a quick hug went back to work.

Now that they were alone, the desperate houseman and the coach, exchanged a brief glance.

“You think you’re gonna see him again?” asked Lukas fidgeting on the table.

“Yeah, I think so, after all he’s not just your husband you know? He’s actually one of my best friends..”

Poldi rolled his eyes wondering what he had done in his past life to deserve like him as a friend “I wasn’t talking about Basti, you asshole! I was talking about doctor Mc Dreamy!”

“Ah. Well I think so. I hope he’ll show up to some matches…Wishfully without his husband…”

Then they exchanged a knowing look.

Thomas was pretty sure he had jeopardized every chance he could have had with him the second he had blurted out _that_ sentence but the coach would have never given up on the chance to get to know him better. Thomas wasn’t a home wrecker but he decided that investigating a little wasn’t going to hurt anyone.

After all he was the living proof that a marriage could fell through and – Thomas was sure about that – Manuel didn’t wear a wedding ring.

_This must be some kind of sign._

Maybe it was miracle Bastian had been going on about on his birthday night.

 

**

 

Thomas had hoped that Manuel wasn’t on good terms with his husband but he regretted it that night when he had to wait for someone to pick Mathiak up.

The kid was an unschooled talent; he could run faster than the others and he knew how to move on the field and where to shoot to be sure that the goalkeeper couldn’t reach the ball. A real talent.

He was just 9 but he was growing up so fast.

Thomas had watched him rejoicing over his goal, laughing through the training and he was sure that broad smile on his face was the clear sign that the kid had finally found his place…

But right now that happy expression was just a fading memory.

“Come on, let’s go inside, it’s freezing out here..”

With a disappointed look on his face Mati entered the center and went to sit on a small couch while Thomas fetched him a soda. But when the coach offered him that the kid shook his head and kept his eyes fixed on his knees.

With a sigh Thomas sat in front of him on the small coffee table to be sure to be on the kid’s eye level before checking the time.

6.40pm.

By now the excuse of the rush hour traffic had become unbelievable.

“I’m sure there must have been a setback..”

Mati turned to look at his coach and Thomas noticed how sad the kid was “Maybe he just forgot about me”

“I don’t think he forgot to pick you up.”

Mati’s blond head lowered once more “It happens all the time…”

By instinct Thomas stroke the kid’s hair but when Mati stepped out of his reach with a weary movement, the coach thought that maybe the young boy didn’t want to be pitied.

“Do you already know what number you want on your jersey?” asked the coach with a more light tone sipping on his soda.

Mathiak turned thoughtful for a while and Thomas congratulated himself to have been able to distract him.

“I’d like the number 1.”

The coach was caught off guard, that really was an odd answer “That’s the goalkeeper number.”

“I know that but it’s also the number both my dads wore.”

And there it dawned on Thomas: that’s what Manuel had meant when during their meeting he had mentioned that football ran in the family.

He was about to ask him more about that when a young man busted in the center lowering the huge earphones he was wearing and fixing his blond forelock.

As soon as Mati saw him, his expression turned sad once again.

“MATI! I’m so sorry I’m late!”

The blond man bent over the kid placing his hands on the kid’s knees to be on his eye level. Pushing away a blond lock from his eyes, he hoped that the kid would have at least looked at him “You dad called me… I came as fast as I could, he didn’t show up because-“

“Something came up at work”

It was Mati who ended the sentence for him before sighing “Never mind.”

Thomas cleared his throat and finally the boy noticed him too.

They introduced quickly.

“Marco, I’m the babysitter.”

“I had guessed that, I’m Thomas, Mathiak’s coach.”

They shook hands, then Marco stood up and put Mati’s bag on his shoulder stretching his hand toward the kid encouraging him “Come on, young man.”

Only then the boy stood up and Thomas was about to say goodbye to them when something happened and time froze.

Mario entered the room with the luminous cones they had used during training still in his hands. The younger coach wanted to call out for Thomas but even before he could utter the T, his eyes met Marco’s green ones.

And then something clicked. Suddenly there was tension in the air.

Thomas started to think he should have hired a violinist since that was the second time someone had an epiphany that day.  At least Mario was in a better position than the one he had been in.

“Hi.” said Gotzewalking lightly to the guy with the brightest smile he could manage, the kind of smile that can obscure the sun itself. According to Thomas it was just creepy.

“You’re a nursing student, aren’t you? I think we’ve run into each other in the hallways a couple times.”

Muller looked at Mati who had his identical resigned expression plastered on his young face. Dropping Marco’s hand the kid walked to Thomas and cupped his hands to whisper into his coach’s ear “I think they like each other”

Thomas chuckled but neither Marco or Mario seemed to even acknowledge their presence in the room anymore, too lost in their eyes to care.

“I really think so too.” agreed Thomas while the child sat down next to him sipping on the untouched soda he had been offered before.

If their aghast looks were any indications, this was surely going to take a while.

While they were talking about their classes – it was pretty clear that Marco too had already ‘caught sight of’ Mario in the hallways – they had gotten closer. They were inching away from kissing.

But they didn’t, of course. At least they didn’t in front of Mati and Thomas who was starting to believe that these two could actually be more sickening than the Schweinski.

After a 40 minutes long conversation during which they exchanged phone numbers, addresses and probably even their social security number, Marco finally brought a really tired Mati home.

It took them 10 minutes to say goodbye.

In that lapse of time Thomas had slowly walked to the door with Mati trying to make it clear for the two guys that it was really late.

“Back to the jersey….”

The coach fixed the neck of the kid’s coat and zipped it up.

“What do you think of the number 25?”

Mati looked at him surprised and asked “And why the 25?”

Thomas smiled “Well, it was my number…”

In that moment Marco started to walk toward them placing his hands on the kid’s shoulders and dragging him away.

“Come on Mati, let’s go! If your dad comes home and we’re not there I’ll be dark-haired next time you see me!”

That guy was really stupid, just like Mati had pointed out his first day..

“I think I’m in love…” whispered Mario as soon as the two of them had left. He was still looking at the door with his lost puppy expression. Thomas, who had gotten closer to him just cause he hadn’t nothing better to do, groaned in frustration.

Love is in the air. Clearly.

Müller started to think that maybe it was just him then, the loser. Robert was still head over heels with his wife, Mandy was some kind involved with the French guy,Schweinski had been on a constant honeymoon since their wedding and now Mario had found his soulmate too.

“I hate you…” mumbled Thomas.

He shrugged and added “I’m going to shower… Be sure to lock everything up as soon as you’re done wondering what color will be better for the centerpieces on your wedding reception.”

Spinning on his heels Thomas brought a hand to his face.

“I hate my life.”

_Great, now even a headache. My day is made._

The last 24 hours had turned out to be positive for everybody but him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback = Motivation for faster updates! So, please, let me know what do you think about this work :D


	4. the Number Twentyfive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there :D  
> Here we are with the chapter four!  
> Things are gonna mess up for our heroes v.v  
> Is time for Lisa to say what she thinks about this situation....
> 
> I wanna say thanks to Hope, Becka and meinewolfboy3 for those amazing reviews and also to everyone who send me a kudos! You guys are incredible, I can't belive that you like this, in this way.  
> I send a hug to everyone :3 
> 
> Enjoy :D  
> Jessy
> 
>  
> 
> Per tutti gli italiani che mi seguono (e non sono nemmeno pochi a quanto ho capito!) eccovi il capitolo originale:   
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/112917427735/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-quattro

Antoine Griezmann had never pictured himself being a secretary.

He knew he was just working his way up to become a fashion designer, but to be sincere he was almost tired of this job already even if he was still in college he was ready to do the job he had left the beautiful Lyon, his hometown, for. 

Being an intern wasn’t a thrilling job at all. But at least he could be around his employer a lot, so that could be considered a compensation for the hard work.

The first time he had met Mario Mandzukic he had immediately been charmed by his boss’s bluntness. Then he had gotten to know him a little bit better and Antoine had been fascinated by other aspects of him.

And there he was, the object of his desires, dressed up in an elegant grey suit. Even if he was just an accountant, Mario was always so dapper, at least at work. And that’s the reason why ‘Toine had been scarred for life when he had first entered the other’s apartment. He had just proposed to spend the night watching a movie and playing FIFA but he had found himself in Mario’s flat surrounded by…

....Antoine couldn’t even remember all the stuff he had been surrounded by but he surely remembered that his first though had been _Saying that this man lives in squalor would be a major understatement._

Being his usual perfectionist self, Griezmann had cleaned everything up and Mandy had found that his floor was originally cream-colored.

“Hi Antoine!”

Mandy greeted him as usual while the French man sat up straight, almost upright with his broadest smile to brighten up his face and his blue eyes.

“Bonjour Monsieur!”

Antoine answered back with polite mischief. He had in fact found out, in a particularly intimate moment, that Mario couldn’t resist him when he was speaking French.And that morning wasn’t going to be an exception given that the Croatian had to bring his hand to the shirt collar to loosen it a bit.

“Look, I need those papers about the Italian purchase. Bring them in my office as soon as possible..”

“Of course, monsieur. I’ll come to you right away.”

One last unequivocal eye contact and the superior turned on his heels and headed to his office. Antoine hurried up: he jerked up and went to the marketing department to get the papers he had been asked for and did his best to show up in Mandy’s office as soon as possible.

He was pretty sure they would have spent some time ‘talking’ so he also took his phone and his bleeper.

As usual the bureaucratic procedure was the most horrendous torture someone could endure but Antoine didn’t give up easily and moved heaven and earth to get all the papers done within the hour. Once he had that covered, Antoine headed back to his floor beaming with satisfaction before noticing something odd once he stepped out of the elevator.

The ‘big boss’ Bastian Schweinsteiger was laughing heartily with Sebastian Rode, one of the commercial graphic designers. But it wasn’t that scene that drew Antoine’s attention.

What caught his eye was a brief, slight movement of Basti’s head. In that moment his hand went to lean on Rode’s forearm to caress him gently while they were staring at each other.

Antoine’s gayradar went haywire but he stopped looking at them immediately scared that someone could notice him. He then headed quickly towards Mandzukic’s office bursting in and startling the accountant who raised his eyes from his laptop in shock.

“You’re out of your mind, you know that right? You scared the crap out of me!” cried Mandy bringing a hand to his heart and leaning down on his armchair “Can I ask you what the hell were you thinking when you burst in like an Hun?”

“I saw something!” mumbled Toine throwing the folder containing the requested papers on the desk before bending over the table trying to sound as threatening as he could. Mandy sank even further in his armchair to look at him with wild eyes.

“You..”

“I…”

“You told me that the big boss is a married man!”

Mandy gasped feeling now under pressure in a brand new way. He had never felt this uncomfortable with someone in his life, not even with a woman.

“…Oui? Fuck Toine, you look like a freaking sociopath. You’re scaring me.”

The French man looked at him unconvinced before sighing and going around the desk to straddle him after having  turnedthe armchair around so that they could face one another without any obstacle in between them.

From his new position in his boss’s lap, Antoine was the one in charge.

And that was a big turn on for both of them.

In fact all of a sudden the intern pressed his crotch into the other man’s making him moan and demanding for a deep kiss that soon turned into something more as their tongues battled for dominance.

Mandy wasn’t really sure about his own sexuality.

Back in Croatia, he used to date girls only and he had even thought about marrying one of them. After all he was 28, not 16. But then, because of his job, he had first moved to Madrid and permanently to Munich to work in the headquarters of the firm. Making shoes wasn’t really his call but at the end of the day he was just an accountant.

He had graduated from college at the top his economics class just to be a book-keeper. And it wasn’t just because it was a well-paid job either. Mario had had very few certainties in his life but, ironically, he was such a living mess that he had found comfort in the tidiness of numbers and bills. He had always loved math and his friends considered him a nerd and they never missed an occasion to remind him of that.

Back to his sexuality, this subject was still a sore spot since he had never been so close to a guy before.

Maybe it was because of the close, traditional and sometimes narrow-minded Croatian society that had always held him back from even thinking about being with a guy..

Maybe it was because he was spending a bit too much time with his friends..

Maybe it was fate…

..but right now the situation was heating up and he couldn’t care less.

His hand moved south caressing Antoine’s body until he reached the intern’s ass and squeezed it making him moan against his lips mischievously.

Mandy’s eyes were shut but he was sure Antoine was smiling mischievously.

They could have enjoyed their time together for a little longer, maybe even until lunch break but _of course_ someone had to knock.

“We’ve been cockblocked, damn it!” groaned Mario watching Antoine standing up and tiding up his black trousers. With an irritated gesture, the man behind the desk knotted his undone tie and thundered a loud but clearly unhappy “Come in!”

Bastian popped his head into the room smiling cheerfully. He looked carefully at the scene in front of him: Mandy’s face was on fire and Antoine, now frozen behind the accountant’s chair, had a way too broad smile on his face.

“Am I interrupting something here?” asked their boss winking and stepping inside with his hands in the pockets of his designer trousers.

“What could you have interrupted exactly?” cried the big Croatian guy gesticulating “We are working here! We don’t waste time! What about you? What game are we playing today uh?”

The blond boss laughed out loud and looked at him with a knowing smile. It was so obvious he had actually interrupted them because Mandy couldn’t hide his emotions, particularly when he wasn’t at ease.

“That’s what I came here for, to talk about games. You’ll be there tonight, right?”

Mandy rolled his eyes folding his hands on his chest but relaxing on his armchair “Of course I will, it’s Thursday after all. I’m always there, aren’t I?”

“Don’t forget that it’s up to you and the other Mario to bring beers.”

Bastian could have gone by now but he couldn’t resist the temptation to embarrass his friend a bit more

“Look, Antoine. Why don’t you join us? We’re unequal and we could really use one more player.”

By the end of the sentence, Bastian had a smile as shining as the sun.

Noticing the perplexed look from the French intern, the blond boss decided to insist.

“But why Mandy, why didn’t you invite our little dearest Antoine to play football with us before?”

As soon as the word ‘football’ was out of Bastian’s lips, Griezmann got excited. He was almost skipping.

“I used to play football when I was in high school. I’d like to play with you, a lot… if it isn’t a problem for you, monsieur Mandzukic.”

Trapped between his ‘lover’ and his friend, the accountant shook his head “There’s absolutely no problem Griezmann.”

“Then I’ll see you later guys. Mandy will give you the address and all..”

Bastian walked back to the door turning to look mischievously to his friend “I want all the transactions data I requested this morning on my desk by tonight so you have all the time you want to finish up what you were up to when I walked in. Later!”

The thump of a closing door. A laugh escaped Antoine’s lips. Mandy sank further in his chair.

“My God, My God, why did you abandon me?” whispered in his lowest voice Mario while Antoine got closer straddling him once more and caressing his face.

“You’re going to meet a few people tonight I didn’t want you to meet..”

They were about to resume where they had stopped but Mandy had one more thing to ask.

“Hey Toine, why did you ask me about Bastian’s marriage earlier?”

The intern tried to be evasive and whispered “I was curious..” on his lips and kissing him immediately after. But Mario wasn’t stupid and detached himself holding his lover by the shoulders and staring into his eyes in all seriousness.

“I don’t want to suggest things that aren’t true and to create an uproar..”

“Whatever you’re going to say, it’ll stay between us.” answered Mandy caressing the other man’s neck and loosening his tie.

Antoine looked unsure on what to do but after a while the decision was made: he had to talk.  After all he had burst in the room almost running and the other wasn’t stupid, Mandy knew something had been off.

“Earlier I..I noticed that Bastian really seems to get on well with Sebastian Rode, from the advertising department.”

Given that the Croatian didn’t look so convinced, Antoine told him everything he had witnessed and everything he had felt.

Mandy didn’t know what to do with that information. He didn’t make sense to him at all…

He had met Bastian at his workplace and the boss had taken him under his wing and presented him to the others helping him to learn German which had revealed itself as a language not so easy to learn. You could think he was the real clown among them but it was him who held their group together.

And it wasn’t just that.

He was too much of a good man to do something so deplorable such as cheating on his husband.

Mostly because there was no doubt that Basti loved Lukas. A lot.

And because of that the accountant didn’t really know how to react to this news.

He didn’t think Antoine was lying but in the meantime he thought of that whole situation as something really absurd.

But despite everything, he was a little concerned so he commented softly “Let’s keep an eye on him.” before diving back onto the intern’s lips.

It wasn’t up to him to act on that but he felt duty-bound to protect his friends from their own stupid actions. At least, he would have tried.

 

**

 

It had been raining all day.

There was so much mud on the field that twenty minutes into the match you could have said Bastian and Thomas had been rolling in it the whole afternoon.

Despite the bad weather they wouldn’t have traded their Thursday game night for anything. They gathered there with friends they had met in different occasions either at their workplaces or during a trip.

But that night the spotlight wasn’t held on Thomas and his usual troubles and neither onLahm and the millionth cute picture of his beautiful son.

Antoine had been welcomed almost as an hero, especially by Mandy’s little gang. He was the missing link between Mario Mandzukic, 28 years old, and his latent gayness, the one everyone had tried to prove.

They didn’t care about his coming out, they all knew how unpleasant it could be to be forced to confess something like that…

They just wanted to laugh at his unease. The whole situation was hilarious.

Thomas didn’t seem to have fun though being too immersed in his thoughts.

It had been ten days since he had met Doc. McDreamy, as anyone called him already. But they hadn’t met again and, even if he took for granted that he could have never had his way with him, Thomas couldn’t stop thinking about the handsome doctor. Manuel had impressed him so much that the coach couldn’t wait for the children’s championship to begin and to see him among the other parents on the stands.

He was counting the days. Literally.

He had never had such a big crush but he knew his feelings were bound to be trampled on as soon as he would have seen Manuel with his husband.

There was still a faint hope though.

Thomas was sure something was wrong with Manuel because even if he had stressed he was married, he hadn’t worn any wedding ring that morning. The coach had racked his brains and  finally asked to Robert if he was a surgeon too and if he wasn’t any ring because of that.

But Robert had confirmed that he was just a paediatrician, not a surgeon.

Maybe he had lost it? Maybe he was allergic to metals? Maybe he was divorcing? Maybe they had had a night of wild sex and he had taken it away for fear of losing it in the fuss?

He had carefully thought it through and the solution he was most fond of was the one about the divorce.

Even if he had to admit that Manuel really gave him the idea of someone who liked that kind of sex..

“Muller? Can you stop dreaming of him for two minutes and pick up the ball please?!”

The yell had come from Franck, one of the center coordinator and Arjen’s best friend and brought Thomas back to Earth making the others laugh.

“I’d like to go back home before dawn, thank you very much!”

The rumor about him had obviously spread in the group thanks to the gossipmongers: Bastian and Mandy.

“Ah ah, very funny Ribèry!” answered back the Bavarian before darting forward and passing over Philipp Lahm who was looking at him like a father looks at his son.

Fips was another member of their group and a dear friend but since he had settled down he had lost contacts with most of them.

They had stopped considering him one of those to call if they wanted to hang out when he had started asking for double shifts at the hospital so pretty much since he had become the head department of the children’s ward.

But that didn’t imply he was out of the group completely.

He had never skipped one of their matches on Thursday night and he had always time for his friends. He was literally a father to them. It was a role that really fitted him.

But he wasn’t interested in guys at all. He was in fact completely straight – even if rumor had it some MichaBallack had been his first, and unfortunately last, gay kiss – so the only thing he had in common with them was football.

He had been the one who had introduced Lewandowski to the group but, unlike his Polish colleague, he thought Manuel Neuer was a nice guy. To be honest, Fips had a really good opinion of him as a doctor.

Thomas had found out that Fips had asked him if he wanted to go play with them but the doctor had politely refused and said he didn’t have the time.

But if the head of the department could find two hours to dedicate to a short match, why couldn’t he?

Manuel worked six hours straight as every other doctor at the hospital but then lost track of time doing his rounds even on days when he wasn’t supposed to. But it wasn’t just that. Lahm had told them he had seen him many times at the consulting room, especially in the morning. So God only knew how much the guy actually spent at the hospital.

Thomas started to think that maybe he was kind of an asshole and didn’t want even think about the possibility he wouldn’t show up to Mathiak’s first match.

He focused back on his own match and kicked the ball back on the field.

He had to stop examining every little piece of Manuel’s life. He didn’t even know the guy so he sounded like a creep when he asked everyone to give him as much information as they could about the young doctor.

More than a creep, he really looked like a stalker.

Thomas looked at Mario stopping the ball with his chest before scoring leaving the poor Starke in shock. Thomas ran and high-fived him before stepping aside to let Bastian do the same.

He was still smiling when Alaba’s yell caught him off guard.

“Muller! Your wife is here!”

Thomas turned slowly to watch Lisa striding to them hugging herself, probably to keep herself warm.

“Shit.” mumbled the young Bavarian while his friends sympathized with him. He decided to go meet her, at least he could have avoid to make a scene in front of his friends.

“Hey, baby.”

“You fucker.”

That wasn’t a good start.

Thomas brought his hand to the back of his neck nervously. It wasn’t a good start and he had never been able to handle his arguments with her. With everyone else, especially with other men, he let his hormones do the work. He had been the main fighter in a few brawls when he was younger.

But he just couldn’t yell at her.

At least he had never been the one who initiated their fights and he always felt uncomfortable when she was that mad. Especially because she had every right to be.

“You didn’t come home for dinner and you didn’t call either!”

She had already started to raise her voice.

Thomas glanced at his friends behind him and noticed, with annoyance , that they weren’t even pretending not to be eavesdropping. No privacy.

“You know I always come to play with the guys on Thursday”

Bad, bad move.

He clearly saw Lisa’s expression become even more irritated and flustered.

The ten minutes that followed were the longest ten minutes of his life. Ten minutes when Lisa simply blurted out every single thing she had kept to herself in the last two years: she told him about her insinuations about him cheating on her, about the many times when she had felt alone and abandoned, about every single time she had wished he could have died…

And she had decided to do it in front of his friends..

“You know what? Given that you seem to take in great consideration what your friends think of you compared to what I’m trying to tell you, I’ll be sincere here, okay? This is not working anymore, Thomas. I think we should take a break.”

Oh, whoa. She was dumping him.

In that moment Thomas Muller, 25 years old, from Pahl im Oberbayern, felt his frustration skyrocketing.

“You know what, Lisa? I AGREE!” snapped him. It had been him who had started to ignore her, to be distant and cold to her. And the reason why was simple, he didn’t love her “I agree on this break since I can’t stand you anymore!”

“Oh, shit.”  Mandy brought his fist to his mouth watching the scene bewildered before bringing his arm to envelop Antoine’s shoulders. The intern was staring at the scene in front of him like everybody else in the room.

“Is this normal?” asked the French man whispering trying not to be heard.

“No.” answered him Bastian and Mario at the same time glancing at each other before their attention was drawn once more to the fight.

Saying that Lisa was pissed off would have been an understatement.

“You can’t stand me? What should I say then, uh? I’m the one who married a jerk!”

And right there Thomas decided to show everybody how idiotic he could be.

With a shrug he stared into her eyes for the longest time before telling her the most inappropriate thing he could have thought of in that moment.

“What about me, uh? I am the one who married a woman I have never loved.”

She slapped him so hard that Thomas’s head turned and the sound of her slap echoed on the field like Notre Dame bells in Paris.

As if they had secretly agreed, his friends started to busy themselves all of a sudden.

“Kick the damn ball, Toine!” cried out Poldi inviting them to start to play as if anything had happened.

They didn’t need to witness anything more.

Thomas kept his mouth shut from that moment on, being sure he had already said too much.

Lisa didn’t need to add anything else.

“I’ve already brought you a bag with some of your clothes. I’ll leave it here” said his wife before spinning on her heels and going away.

Although Thomas knew Mario would have taken him and that he hadn’t to go back home with his tail between his legs, he couldn’t move. He was frozen.

Why didn’t he feel relieved?

Why didn’t he feel free?

Being with Lisa was a certitude because even if he didn’t love her anymore, she had always been an important part of his life. He could ignore her, didn’t call her or even have an affair with one of his best friends but at least he was sure that at the end of the day she would have been home.

She would have been there despite everything and after all it hadn’t been so bad when they hadn’t been fighting. But right now, it was too late to have this kind of thoughts.

Taking his own responsibility, Thomas realized he was now alone.

Completely and utterly alone.

 

**

 

On Friday night, Mati was very nervous.

He was excited because he didn’t have to go to school on Saturday and because he could spend the day relaxing before the big match on Sunday. And that was the reason why he had been smoothing down the brand new jersey he had leant on his chest and he was now worshipping like a relic.

He had two reasons to be euphoric: the first obviously being the match itself and the second was that his dad was gonna be there to watch him play.

Mathiak loved when, after a match, his dads used to take him to have ice cream with them showering him with cuddles and compliments.

He already knew his papa Iker wouldn’t have come – he had resigned himself a long time ago – but he didn’t doubt Manuel would have been there.

He left his room around 8 knowing that his dad would have been home soon and he sat on the stair waiting for him. Knowing that on Friday Manuel came home early, he started to stare intensively at the door while Marco whistled a cheerful tune in the kitchen.

Finally, when the door was opened, the kid could pour out his excitement yelling at him “Daddy! Daddy! Come here!!”

Manuel raised his eyes to him and smiled leaving his leather shoulder bag on the couch and quickly taking off his coat. He didn’t even greet Marco because he was too excited to care about anything else but his child so he climbed the stairs two by two.

When he reached the room, he found himself facing Mati with his hands folded behind his back and most shining smile ever plastered on his face “So? Is it here yet?”

His son nodded frantically shaking his blond hair before showing him what he had held behind his back so far. He was so proud of it: a new red shirt with blue sleeves and collar. The city’s colors.

“Oh boy, it’s beautiful!” exclaimed Manuel now excited. He took the jersey in his hands and examined it carefully while his son was almost beaming next to him. He turned it reading his surname on it before noticing something odd…

“Why did you choose the number 25, Mati?”

The kid sat on his bed taking his shorts with the same number written on them.

“I couldn’t have the number one…and that was my coach’s number.”

Manuel was shocked. He was even more surprised when he realized that, in the last few days, he had found himself thinking about that weird individual for a different bunch of reasons not even linked among them.

Oddly enough, he had been impressed by the coach.

Maybe he had been moved by his clumsiness or by the fact that he had been so worried about Mati that he had gone to his office to talk about the enrollment.

That had been the thing that had moved him the most, in a really positive way.

Manuel had always admired the devotion to work and the coach was a job that he envied.

“Why did you choose his number?” asked him with interest and perplexity in his voice. He had never realized how attached Mati had grown to his coach, even if he wasn’t surprised at all.

Surely, he was a shy kid at first but he tended to grow attached to all the right people.

Like he had had with Marco.

Mati swung his short legs from the bed looking at him cheerfully “He told me to do it! Because every other good number was already taken…and because he used to play in my role. I like it, the number 25 I mean… that’s original!”

Manuel chuckled ruffling his kid’s hair before putting the jersey next to himself to sit Mati on his lap.

“You’re right, you know? Are you nervous about this match?”

The kid shook his head “No, because we’re gonna win this. We’re playing against a team really sucks, or at least that’s what the coach had told us.”

To those words, Manuel raised an eyebrow.

That was for sure, the guy was really weird.

“We’ll see about that tomorrow. Now go wash your hands!”

Mati didn’t need to be told twice. He kissed his daddy’s chin –that was the highest point he could reach given his dad’s height even if the boy was sat on his lap – before darting to the bathroom.

He was in high spirits and Manuel couldn’t be happier about it. He hadn’t seen him like that in a while. And in a way it was like having a piece of his routine back.

Neuer stood up holding the jersey in his hands and stretched it out on the mattress before smoothing it.

Who knows? Maybe that number could bring them luck…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, the more feedback I have, the faster I'll be!   
> See you soon!


	5. A heartless man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody!  
> sorry for the delay, but university is between us and keep all the time away from me!  
> Thanks to the lovely people who left me a comment.   
> You're amazing.  
> Even, thanks to everyone who only read or left me a kudos!  
> Enjoy the chapter five :D
> 
> Per gli italiani, ecco a voi il link!  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/113919728290/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-cinque

“Ouch!”

Marco narrowed his eyes and brought his hands on the couch as holding on it for dear life. He didn’t have the courage to look at Manuel while the doctor checked on his ankle.

“Again, how did this happen?” asked in a whisper the paediatrician raising his eyes to stare into Marco’s but not finding them “Marco?”

“I was coming down the stairs and I put down my foot the wrong way… It was a real nightmare! It has been like that since I was 19. Every single time I don’t pay too much attention at what I’m doing or I move too abruptly, I hurt myself!”

The doctor slowly nodded, stood up and scribbled down something on a paper before moving to his pc to get the prescription printed out

“You just go to the hospital pharmacy and buy this ointment. Use it three times a day or even four if you’re in real pain. It doesn’t look sprained but it could be bruised and I don’t think you need to have an X-ray either at least it starts to swell up.”

“It’s not worth it” confirmed Marco slipping in the iron splint before putting on his safety footwear. He stood up took his prescription, folded it and put it in the pocket of his nurse’s uniform.

He had to work his shift that Saturday like every other morning except for the Sundays but he surely could get out of there earlier – still covered by Doc. Neuer – to go babysitting Mati. He would have brought him to the match even if he wouldn’t have stayed until the final whistle.

He had a date to get ready for.

“Where are you going with your boyfriend tonight?” asked Manuel with a smile while Marco sat down next to him.

The blond guy feigned condescension before joining his hands under his chin “We’re visiting a castle out of town and that’s why we have to get going before the end of the match. Mati gave me his approval and anyway you’re going to be there, right? You don’t need me.”

The doctor grabbed his glasses and wore them “You know he loves you.”

“I know, I mean, look at me. I’m adorable.”  commented Marco making Manuel chuckle.

“I swear I won’t miss another match ever again. But I think Mario booked some kind of guided tour for us. We’ll see you at dinner anyway. I’ll cook and introduce him to you.”

Manuel chuckled again looking at him with pleased look “You’re bringing him home already? You two do a lot of things together for not _being together_ yet.”

Marco tried to look as detached as possible until he couldn’t anymore “I know we’ve been dating for 10 days but Jeez…he’s perfect!” and collapsed on the desk in front of him bringing his head on his hands and mumbling “Mario is the most beautiful, sweet guy and he smells so good!”

“Sounds like a cake to me..”

The dark look Marco gave to the doctor obliged Manuel to apologize immediately “Ok, ok, I’m sorry” before ruffling the nurse’s hair since the other had hidden his head under his arms once more, embarrassed “Hey, young man…I’m happy for you!”

“Young man your ass. You only have three years more than me.”

Marco sat straight and sighed “But yes, I think I’m head over heels for him”

“You think uh?”

They met each other’s eyes, a knowing look between them before parting. Marco thanked the doctor for the ointment and went back to work while Manuel reopened the consulting room. He checked the time on the desktop and realized that his morning had just started.

He moved Mati’s picture being sure to remove the light layer of dust on the frame before putting it down again.

His son’s first match in Munich. A big event he couldn’t miss for the world.

And his day would just improve when he would have met Marco’s boyfriend in the evening. He didn’t know the babysitter so well yet given that the two of them had been living together for less than a month but Marco really looked in love. Marco hardly got ruffled. Nothing seemed to faze him even if he was quite the character and he was full of life indeed. And yet, since he had met this Mario, he was so happy. And you could see it clearly, the smiles, the enraptured gazes when he was talking about his young boyfriend…

And for a moment Manuel was jealous and he couldn’t help himself and took his phone to dial the number he had learnt by heart by now, the one he wished he could forget..

**

Thomas had convinced himself that this break from his wife would have good to him. A positive turn for his life, a break to think about his life, to understand what he really wanted from himself and from his future.

But the only thing he had gotten so far was a really bad backache.

The camp bed he was sleeping on in Mario’s studio was a real nightmare. It was so hard and uncomfortable he had given up after a while and had moved to his friend’s couch. He had decided he would have slept there from that moment on.

But Perla, Mario’s cat, hadn’t liked that decision at all.

‘Mario’s baby’ hadn’t accepted her new roommate who had illegally taken possession of her usual sleeping place so she had started to reward him with brief acts of terrorism to his calves.

He had so much scratches on his body that you could have misunderstood the whole situation.

“I’ve always thought you liked it rough”

Lewandowski had whispered this sentence in his friend’s ear given that they were surrounded by children. His own child was playing not so far from them chatting happily with a couple of his friends.

“I’ll go sit on the stands with Anna, the match is about to start.”

The Polish man spotted immediately the referee, ready to fight him as usual. He then put his hand on his son’s head and encouraged him “Come on Andrej, let’s go kick some asses!” before hugging him tightly. And then Robert turned to Thomas “And you, don’t expect to see Doc McDreamy here tonight…”

Thomas looked at him bewildered given that it wasn’t in Rob’s character to warn anybody about anything or to be so serious either “I’m pretty sure he won’t show up tonight…He’s probably still at the hospital playing Meredith Grey or something.”

The coach shifted his body weight from one foot to the other looking around and spotting Mathiak on the bench. The kid’s hopefullook was pointed at the stands.

Thomas refused to think about him not coming to the match.

“He must have had some kind of complication on his way here. He’ll show up, you’ll see” commented Thomas harshly “And not for me, of course, but for his son. He can’t miss the match.”

“For someone like him, I don’t think some junior football match is so relevant.”

Rob gave him one last look that was meant to tell him ‘I’m right and you’ll see it’ before disappearing in a crowd of parents on the stands. Thomas saw him sitting between his wife and Claudia Lahm, Julian’s mom.

But the match was about to start and he couldn’t think about the doctor anymore.

“Let’s gather here boys!” called them Thomas until they were surrounding him.

“The regular line-up on the field! Let’s kick their asses!”

The kids cheered and ran to take their spots except for those who would have started from the bench, and among them there was Mati. The young boy sat on his spot next to his coach who, as soon as the referee’s first whistle echoed, joined him on the bench.

“He’ll come.” told him Thomas putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder and earning a grateful smile in response.

He had to come.

He couldn’t miss the first match.

 

**

 

But apparently he could.

And not only Manuel had missed his son’s first match – Mati had refused to play when Andrej had been called back on the bench around half time – but he was running late to come take his son home.

Thomas started to question his crush. And he had anybody to talk about it with since Bastian and Poldi had brought Louis home already and Rob had been called back at the hospital around half time. Even Mario had something to do with his brand new boyfriend.

And now, alone with Mati, Thomas was sad.

But surely not as sad as the child himself. He didn’t want to know what it meant to be in the kid’s shoes. His father had forgotten about the match, to go get him…

Again.

Ok, he was a doctor and he was busy saving lives but what the hell?! It was his son they were talking about.

Anyway, Thomas and Mati were getting closer because of this whole situation. They spent lots of time together after their trainings and the boy often helped his coach to tidy up the field or to put away the balls.

A new friend couldn’t entertain Mati too much though.

Thomas felt useless facing the sad face in front of him. He wished he could do something for Mati.

He was ready to get him in his car and to bring him to the hospital when a SUV stopped in front of the center’s entrance.

Manuel turned the engine off and not caring about the huge ‘no parking’ sign climbed off his car in a rush. Then he opened the glass door staring directly at the couches where Thomas and his son were laying down and strode toward them with a guilty expression on his face.

“I’m sorry to be this late. I know it will sound repetitive but something came up at the hospital and I had to monitor one of my patients.”

Thomas was completely speechless.

Manuel was apologizing…to him?

“I’m sorry?” asked in an almost irritated tone “I don’t think you owe me any apologies.”

That was the last straw.

All the frustration Thomas had in himself, frustration about his life, about his marriage, clouded his mind for a while. His anger broke out and Thomas was sure that would have been the end for whatever there could have been between them.

“You can’t treat your son like that! You didn’t show up for any of his trainings, you didn’t show up to his match… Are you heartless?”

He realized he had overstepped the moment he had opened his mouth but it was too late now.

Doc. Neuer didn’t react immediately, at first too hurt to answer back.

“And you think you know everything eh? You’re a football coach for kids and yes, you may see them for a few hours per day but what do you know about being a single parent? Do me a favor Mr. Müller, mind your own business and stick to your role.”

“Then you should start respecting your own and be there for your son.”

One last, burning look and Manuel reached for his son’s bag “Let’s go Mathiak.”

The boy, who had witnessed in silence to their discussion, leant over to hug Thomas, to thank him. Maybe that gesture had saved him given that his outburst may had cost the kid to be taken away from his classes.

“I’ll see you on Monday.” told him Mati holding his father’s hand and waving at Thomas with the other.

Thomas gave him a strained smile in response but it was meant to be sincere.

“I’ll see you on Monday!”

The car drove off and the coach was alone once more. He let himself fall on the couch, too tired to do anything else and he just wondered if it could be worse than that..

He had just lost his last chance to be romantically involved with his crush, the one he had been thinking of non-stop for the last ten days. He could have been sympathetic with the doctor, fuck! He could have been kinder, and maybe even invited him out to have dinner…

But the more he thought about Mati’s sad expression, the more he felt bad..

That was for sure, things couldn’t worse...

But then his phone rang.

“Rob?” asked Thomas in a whisper closing his eyes and rubbing them “I need you…”

_-Thomas, not now. I can’t. I need you to comfort me..-_

The coach goggled and asked anxiously “What happened??” . He didn’t like Lewa’s tone.

_-Do you remember how I told you about the kid I refused to operate surgery on?-_

Thomas thought about it “The one you told me about ten days ago? The day before my meeting at the hospital?”

 _-That’s him.-_ confirmed the Polish surgeon _-His infection spread quickly and passed to his blood too. The kid is in a coma and Neuer filed a report on me given that I’m the one who didn’t recommend the surgery.-_

Oh, shit.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“What’s gonna happen now?”

The waiting was unbearable and when he didn’t receive an answer, the coach jerked up and grabbed the keys to lock the center up.

“Wait for me wherever you are! I’m coming!”

That said, he turned off the lights.

Never, never think that things can’t get worse.

 

**

 

Mati had fallen asleep in the short time they needed to go home.

Manuel thought it was his way to avoid talking to him given that the boy had admitted, when he had climbed on his seat, that he hadn’t played. But once the car was parked in the driveway Manuel realized that his son had let himself be rocked by the engine sound and that he was soundly asleep.

The doctor woke him up tenderly, ruffling his blond hair and fighting himself internally to not say anything to Mati when the child moved away from him keeping his eyes on the floor to avoid meeting his dad’s.

How could he blame him?

“I’m sorry kiddo.”

His son sighed wringing his hands. He used to do that when he was sad or he wanted to cry. Manuel’s heart broke in two “You promised.”

“I know I promised.”

“Papa Iker would have come.”

Manuel didn’t know how to answer back to that. And he knew it was true, Iker wouldn’t have missed one of his son’s matches. When they lived together in Gelserkinchen, his husband used to be the one showing up to every one of Mati’s matches while he showed up when he could.

They used to have their footing, their pace. But then it hadn’t worked for them anymore when it had happened what had happened.

With a penitent sigh, the doctormoved aside on the back seat of his car and let his child climb down and enter the house. Then Manuel took the football bag before following him to find Mati curled up in Marco’s arms smiling.

He watched his son cupping his hands around the babysitter’s ear before whispering directly in it and the smile on Marco’s face fading away slowly. But the nurse didn’t lose heart.

“I’m sure next time is gonna be better. We’re all gonna be there to cheer for you!”

The kid nodded slowly before focusing on the other man in the room “Hi Mario!”

A young man’s head popped out into the room, a shy smile directed to Manuel, his hand stretched to high-five the child “Hey Mati!”

Marco got control over the whole situation putting his hand on the house owner’s shoulder “Manu, this is Mario. Sweetie, this is my roommate, superior and boss.”

Gõtze shook the doctor’s hand and looked at him carefully. Thomas was definitely right, he really was an handsome man, but his eyes were melancholic.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” answered back Manuel politely while he followed his son with his eyes while the child climbed the stairs to go to his room. “I’m sorry but I need a shower. It has been one heck of a day. We’ll talk later, at dinner.”

“Of course, have a nice shower!” chipped Marco before taking Mario’s hand and heading back to the kitchen with him. Once they were there, he closed the door.

“This is not how it should be.”

He had missed Mati’s match and the kid had whispered into his ear that his daddy had ‘scolded Thomas’ for whatever reason.

“We should do something about it.”

The younger man stopped staring at him in awe and frowned “What do you mean?”

“Manuel had an argument with your friend, Thomas. So I think it’s time for us to arrange a date.”

Mario opened his mouth to reply but shut it immediately after. He then found the words he was looking for “ If they did have a fight, maybe they can’t stand each other.”

The blond man put his fingertip on the other’s nose and smiled knowingly “There. I knew you were going to say it, baby. Let’s think about it… Manuel is single, even if not by choice. Thomas is single because, if I got it right, he denies liking cocks more than lady flowers, so to speak… Both their lives are shitty right now and if they yelled at each other’s faces, they can’t be so uninterested! We have to get them together.”

The would-be Cupid’s speech didn’t really convince Götze but he had to admit that his ‘they’re both single’ speech didn’t sound so wrong after all.

And the fact that Thomas still had a huge crush on Doc. McDreamy wasn’t a bad thing either. And, by the way, Mario could really understand it now.

“Maybe you’re right… what do we do?”

Marco smiled, a knowing look on his face.

“Have you ever arranged a blind date before?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for today!  
> Always remember: the more feedback I have, the faster I'll be.  
> Even my incredible traslater.   
> See you soon!


	6. Those eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are!  
> Another day, another chapter.  
> I wait since the last minute of the match agaist Georgia and now we can celebrate this winning!
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone who have a feedback with me, in particular with those amazing girls who left me a comment. 
> 
> Have a good time and enjoy the chapter!  
> Jessy.
> 
> Per tutti gli italiani in ascolto, eccovi il link del capitolo in italiano!  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/114946519060/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-sei

His morning was nothing special.

He had woken up at 11.30 and had prepared something to eat for Mario who had come home after his classes at Massimilian Ludwig University. Weirdly enough, though, the guy had already warned him that he wouldn’t have showed up for his shift at the hospital the following day.

According to Mario ‘ _they needed to talk’_ and Thomas had immediately understood that there was something fishy going on. Mario wasn’t good at keeping secrets or at plotting conspiracies.

And he wasn’t patient either.

In fact he had blurted out his idea to Thomas without thinking twice about it and leaving his friend speechless.

“I’ve planned a blind date. For you. One of Marco’s friends isn’t in a good place right now, just like you, and I think it’d be nice if you two meet. Nothing fancy, you don’t have to get married tomorrow and you don’t have to get him in your bed if you don’t like him… But I thought that maybe you could use a new friend. Don’t you?”

Oh whoa.

He hadn’t seen that coming from Mario.

This was something that Mandy or Bastian would have done. Usually Gotze was the ‘politically correct’ one among them; he wasn’t noisy, he minded his own business even if he was always ready to pay for the first jug of beer or to offer his shoulder to cry on.

Thomas had to lookreally desperate or pathetic to move someone like Mario.

And so there it was the opportunity to meet somebody new and maybe the chance to recover from his sadness. Sure, he was still a married man. He wasn’t surely thinking that his relationship with Lisa could have been fixed but starting something new?

His ‘thing’ with Robert was different. They didn’t _love_ each other. They loved each other as friends, they supported and trusted one another but they didn’t love each other. It was just sex, the primordial instinct that men have to vent somehow, from time to time..

And he had to consider that, despite the huge argument and the bitter disappointment, he had to get over his crush on Neuer. He had to admit that he was disappointed, he had had great dreams and hopes about him but everything had been fucked up…

And meeting someone new could be a double-edged weapon that could lift his mood or confused him even more..

They had left the conversation in the air and Thomas had promised to Mario that they would have talked about it some more at dinner. But he needed to talk to someone first..

The only one who could help him decide.

A SMS had sufficed and they had now a date planned in thirty minutes at their usual bar.

Thomas was sitting at their usual table and ordering for both of them. A super-sugared coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon for the other man and his usual espresso. After all Thomas was sure the other would have showed up on time.

And in fact there he was, his ‘date’ had just showed up on the door of the bar at 2.40pm. He had looked for Thomas with his eyes and when he had spotted his friend, the man walked towards himuntying his scarf.

“Hi, Thommie.”

“Hi, Miro.”

He hadn’t aged at all, damnit.

He had the same haircut, the same smile, the same old charm…

He was the same man Thomas had fallen for in high school when Mirowas his math teacher and Thomas had tried to do his best just to impress him. To think about it now, math was the only subject he was good at.

But MiroslavKlose was way more than that to Thomas.

He was his first, true love. It had obviously been a one-way love given that their relationship hadn’t start under a lucky star and it had almost jeopardized everything. Miro was a married man, the father of two children and he had jeopardized not only his marriage but also his job.

They had been lucky but when Thomas had become too attached, they had agreed to stop it. Or better, Miro had decided to call it quits leaving his student heart-broken.

Later on Thomas had understood why he had done it and he had had to admit that his teacher had been right. He was just seventeen, Miro was 26. Even if the age gap was just 9 years, a fling wasn’t worth the risk of ruining lives or reputations.

But they had kept in touch and from time to time, when one of them needed to talk or to clear his head, the other was always ready to support him. They had always understood each other pretty well.

Without wasting time – they didn’t need small talks – Thomas had told Miro everything he had been through; from the break with Lisa to Mario’s idea about the blind date and to his disappointment in Manuel. And, almost without noticing, he dwelled upon it.

Miro didn’t interrupt him, not once. He stood there sipping his coffee and staring into the other man’s eyes until Thomas shut up.

“I think you should go. To this blind date, I mean.”

Thomas was shocked and raising his eyes asked “You think?”

Klose nodded fidgeting with the almost emptied sachet of sugar.

“Yes, I think you should. As your friend said, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.. You can meet him and decide if you want to meet him again and whatnot. For that matter you can choose not to see him ever again. But I think that going out, even if just for one night, and not thinking about your troubled life could save you from a nervous breakdown.”

“I feel worn-out already”

It was true. There was no coming back now. He was alone to face his problems. He couldn’t face it one at a time, let alone all together..

“I was thinking about going back at my parents’ in Pahl.”

Thomas was surprised by his own words. It had been just a thought so far; he had been thinking about it for a while now, since he moved to Mario’s but maybe, deep down, he had thought about it even before then. He was thinking about leaving and going back to his parent’s house to work at the stables or maybe about going back to find a job as football coach. It wasn’t his dream job but children were children everywhere.

Miro took Thomas’s hand in his own and sighed.

“I wish I could tell you not to give up, to keep going because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger but you have to do what **you** want.”

Miro was still holding his hand, staring into the boy’s eyes and infusing courage to him, the courage Thomas was afraid he had already lost.

“What would you do?”

“I’d go to this blind date, I’d see how the night goes and I’d try to live a little. If it doesn’t work, you are always on time to leave Munich. No rush.”

That was the most sane, well-pondered idea he could have had. No surprise it was coming from Miro.

Thomas smiled and nodded slowly.

“I’ll do it.”

Maybe Klose was right after all, and something good could come out of this date.

Well, surely the situation couldn’t get worse. If the date didn’t go well, he would have thought about what to do later on.

The coach was ready to tell Mario he was going to agree to it.

Even if he was still scared of not being able to handle the situation.

**

Julia had recovered from bronchitis and Lukas had decided to spend the day at the park with her before stopping by to take Louis at his football trainings and going, the three of them, to buy ice creams.

Since he had quitted his job and left Kohln to get married and look after Louis, and then after their young girl, Poldi had never had doubts that him and Bastian were soulmates destined to be together.

At least until then…

He knew his husband’s work schedule by heart by now, and not because he wanted to keep tabs on him or because he didn’t trust Bastian, but because his husbandhad wanted to share every single aspect of his life with him.

And yet, in the last months, something had changed.

Bastian didn’t join him for lunch anymore and even if they met at the cafeteria, there was something Lukas couldn’t put his finger on. Not to mention that his husband often came home later at night. Not too late, he  was always on time for dinner but he used to be on their doorstep at 7 o’clock sharp, happy to be home again. But 7 o’clock had slowly become 7.15, then 7.30.. 7.40…

Bastian still never crossed the boundary, but it was odd nonetheless…

Poldi understood that the promotion Bastian had received 18 months ago had affected his work. He used to be just some boss and the only thing that mattered was that the man drew his salary, but now it looked like his husband had a new attitude towards his job.  Bastian looked very engaged in it.

Truth was, though, that the problem was bigger than a few missed dinners or his often lateness…

Bastian was distracted.

And that had to mean something given that his husbandhad never been exactly the most precise of men.

Also, Bastian had changed in his attitude too. He used to be awkward and funny but now he was just distant, sometimes cold especially towards Lukas who hadn’t missed an opportunity to point that out and had received the usual stream of reassurances in response.

Lukas didn’t doubt his husband’s fidelity when Bastian told him he was tired because of his work, but those small misunderstandings had piled up and had brought them to something unimaginable.

They had started to fight.

They didn’t yell because, even if they both were incredibly impulsive, their children came before everything else but sometimes the frustration brought them to avoid each other for a while. And it sounded absurd to both of them.

Since they had first met, chemistry had been undeniable. They had a special and unique relationship; a strong feeling among them. Lukas was a single dad with a little boy and a job who brought him often abroad. Bastian was just single.

They had met by chance when Bastian had mistaken Lukas for a leather dealer in Frankfurt and had offered to buy him a coffee to remedy his mistake.

They had talked for hours and the blond man had even missed his flight. Poldi had offered to house him for the night and….and it had happened.

It had taken them the glimpse of a smile to fall in love.

Bastian had quickly grown so attached to Louis and to Lukas’s parents that the only missing thing was the officialization of their relationship. Lukas had never been attracted to a man before but that could explain a few things..

And in the end he had made up his mind; he had put his old apartment in Buchforststrasse for sale and he had left Kohln with his son to get married to the man he loved and to start a new carrier. The houseman.

They hadn’t really thought about Lukas’s new career but when they had decided to have another baby, Lukas had made up his mind. Bastian’s salary was more than enough to look after the whole family and in the end they were happy like that…

Or at least Poldi hoped they were.

In the last few months, it hadn’t looked like that at all, or maybe it was really just his husband’s work to trouble him.

And yet, Bastian was 45 minutes late and Lukas was worried. He did trust and love his husband but right then the houseman was really starting to wonder where his other half could have been.

He groaned and checked the meatloaf with peas he had been cooking to be sure not to burn it since it had been on the stove for a long time now.

Now utterly irritated, Lukas threw the pot holder in the sink before putting his face in his hands in desperation. He leant on the sink to check on his children on the sofa and then took his phone. He really didn’t want to be a pain in the ass but he had to do something about it.

Enough was enough!

He had never asked anything but he was now regretting that decision.

He dialed the number he knew by heart and, right when he was about to press ‘call’, the door opened.

“Daddy’s home!”

Lukas let his phone fall on the kitchen bar carelessly before leaning his hips on it and starting to bite his thumb. He was very frustrated and he hated himself for it given that he was sure that would have brought to another argument.

He didn’t want to but he couldn’t avoid it.

So he appeared at the kitchen door and looked at Bastian holding Julia. They smiled at each other but while Bastian wore his usual broad smile, you couldn’t have said the same for Lukas’s.

“Can you please come into the kitchen with me for a moment?”

There it was.

Just by the tone and the request, Bastian could predict that there was something going on. And without letting them know what was going on, the blond man sat his young daughter on the couch and kissed Louis’s hair even if the child looked too enraptured by the Spongebob episode he was watching to care.

So Bastian quickly slipped into the kitchen and closed the door before undoing his tie with a tired gesture.

“It was a nightmare at work today…You can’t understand how many situations I had to fix!” stated Bastian getting closer to his husband and placing his hands on the other’s hips while Lukas lifted the lid and turned off the stove “Yummy! I couldn’t wait any longer before coming home because I’m hungry. I’m hungry for food and cuddles so let’s get started ‘cause I want to go to bed and—“

“Why did you come home so late, tonight?”

Lukas stepped aside leaning back onto the kitchen bar and staring at him harshly.

Bastian couldn’t do anything but sighing “Because I had so many thing to handle and not enough hours in a day to handle them all. I’m sorry, hon.”

“Who was there with you?”

The blond man frowned and stared at him confused “Nobody was there…well, there was my assistant but he went home around 7 like every other night. Do you want to call Mitchell to ask him to confirm it?”

“It was just a question, you don’t have to become defensive all of a sudden.”

“I become defensive because I feel like you’re attacking me, Lukas”

They stared at each other for the longest time, then it was silence.

Lukas waited for a while unsure on what he should do, before chewing his bottom lip and raising his hands in surrender “Ok, ok, if you don’t want to tell me what it’s going on, don’t tell me.”

“I won’t say anything because there’s nothing to say!” continued Bastian almost in despair. He was really tired and he couldn’t believe it. He had fought with tailors all day because they kept sending him the wrong pieces even if the designer’s drawings were clear and he couldn’t imagine he would have fought with his husband too and probably ended sleeping on the couch…no, he couldn’t let that happen.

No way.

“If you don’t have anything to say, maybe you didn’t do anything all day. Maybe you wasted your time at work because you didn’t want to come home to me.”

“That’s obviously the case.” Bastian didn’t want to sound sarcastic but the whole situation was becoming ridiculous “I love not being at home for no reason, clearly. I do that every night. Oh boy, you found out my secret!”

“It’s not funny!” scolded him Lukas.

“And you’re out of yourself if you really think something like that.”

Schweinsteiger sighed deeply to regain composure and run his hand in his hair before raising his hands in surrender  “Ok, look. Hear me out: I have a very important meeting in the morning. I don’t have time to deal with this right now and I don’t want to be attacked by my own husband, let alone listening to these bullshit! I’ll spend the night at Mandy’s , given that he has to be there too.”

That said, Bastian left the kitchen.

And Poldi realized he had been a complete idiot.

His husband sounded really sincere and tired. Probably tired after such a stressful day and a stressful night.

So he followed Bastian into the living room “I can’t understand why you can’t simply tell me the truth, then. Go. Just..go at Mandy’s instead of staying here and explaining yourself!”

One last withering glance and Bastian retorted “This **is** the truth and that’s the reason why I’m going to Mandy’s. This isn’t working, Lukas, this isn’t working at all.”

When he had finished buttoning up his jacket, Bastian took his briefcase full of papers – and snacks – and walked to the door.

And in that moment he met Louis’s eyes who were staring at him unsure.

And he felt like shit.

Bastian plastered his best ‘everything’s fine’ smile and approached the couch “Look, guys. I’m not gonna stay here tonight because I have a very important meeting at work tomorrow. But I promise you that as soon as I’m out, probably after lunch, I’ll take you wherever you want, ok?”

Julie nodded happily hugging him “The park, the park!!”

“Then park will be, if you’re okay with it champ? I’ll come take you after trainings and we’ll head there, are you okay with it?”

But Louis had understood what was going on between his dads and so he just nodded slowly and hugged Bastian who held him closely before standing up and leaving.

And so he left without speaking one last word to Lukas who passed his hand on his shaven head before rubbing the back of his neck.

“Come on you two. Go wash your hands, dinner’s ready.”

Both his children stood up and Lukas went back into the kitchen.

He leant on the sink for a moment and sighed heavily.

Bastian had never left before, not once, before that night.

And it had been his own fault.

He tried to compose himself, holding back the strong will he was feeling to punch the wall to prove himself he was some virile man and not his usual girly self who just wanted to run to bed and cry eating chocolate till he could have feel better.

And then he plastered his best smile on his face not wanting to scare his children off and brought the meatloaf on the table.

***

Manuel wasn’t convinced at all but Marco had been too insistent and creepy to turn him down.

A blind date… such a bad idea!

He didn’t want for another man to make him feel like an idiot or even worse, make him feel loved.

That was the most awful scenario given that after all he was still married. Well, he was separated and his wedding ring was, by now, probably laying on the bottom of the Rhine but at least officially he was still married.

Married to the only man he had ever loved in his life and who, right now, was having the time of his life in Madrid.

Iker was way too good at twisting arguments and that was probably the main reason why Manuel hadn’t called him yet even if, deep down, his husband could be a very kind and caring man.

The doctor had almost called it that afternoon though because he felt like he owed him that much but Marco had managed to scold him about that.

“He dumped you for some jackass. A jerk who would probably be merely a worker or most likely a homeless if it wasn’t for his daddy dearest’s money. I mean, have you seen the way he dress? So TRASH. And ok, I get that he’s a lawyer and that he can afford this guilty pleasure but he left **you** for _this Sergio Ramos_. And I’m not talking about you being a doctor, but your ass…Have you get him tested for blindness? ‘Cause GOD!!! If you try call him, I’ll stick your phone down your throat and I’ll call it just to make it ring, I swear!”

Even if Manuel was a fighter and usually made himself clear with Marco about who was the boss there, that time the doctor had let it slide and had given his phone to the babysitter to be sure not to upset him even more. He looked so touchy…

All in all Reus was even more anxious than him about the date.

“Do I look good like this?”

“Fuck off Manuel, you’re not some kind of monk. Show this wonderful butt of yours in all its glory! I’ll lend you one of my most tight jeans.”

_Still a bad idea!_

With a deep sigh Manuel tried the tight jeans on and…well..

“Okay, you’re right. It’s not that bad but I don’t want to look like I’m that easy!”

The nurse breathed deeply and retorted “Manuel, I didn’t want to be so blunt because I know you’re sensitive and you always watch ‘The Notebook’ when it airs but YOU.NEED.TO.GET.LAID.”

To his friend’s words, Manuel blushed heavily, not because of the other’s bluntness but because it was absolutely true: he _needed_ to get laid.

He had filed that report against Lewandowski two days earlier and he had been more distant and sarcastic and worked up than he usually was. He get easily irritated because of the most stupid things and…yes, he needed to fuck somebody.

But…

“I don’t want to fuck the first man you thought was good for me, you know?!”

Marco went into a sulk trying to look threatening and irritated but failing miserably looking even more adorable “He’s not some random man. He’s one of Mario’s dearest friends. And him, just like you, is going through a very slow break-up and needs a hand. Probably in more senses than the figurative one.”

He then paused. He realized that going on like that would have not convinced Manuel to actually go on his date so he took a deep breath and relaxed.

“You don’t have to put out immediately ok? Getting to know him first sounds fair to me. But please, just go out and give it a try. You just need someone who could help you in a way that neither me nor Mati or your work could. You can’t keep going like this anymore, missing on something that your husband gets plenty of. At least, if not for yourself, do it for Mati. I bet he’d love to see you more relaxed..”

“I can’t understand how Mathiak fits in all of this.”

Marco gaped at him.

“You think I don’t know why you’re always working? You think that getting busy will help you not to think about him but it’s not. You’re worsening this situation. Mati misses you because, let’s be honest, you neglect him… you need stability, okay?”

That really hit close to home.

Marco was right about everything and Manuel wanted to punch him hard. So, disheartened, the doctor stepped into the bathroom to shave.

At 7pm, Manuel was ready. Obviously, he was early.

Mati, who was finishing up his homework, glanced at him briefly before focusing back on his math book.

Manuel ruffled his hair and bent down to kiss it. He knew that, even if they were now on speaking terms, Mati was still mad at him because he had missed his match.

But the kid wasn’t mad.

He was disappointed.

It was even worst.

“I won’t be back late, sweetie. But by 9.30pm you have to bed under the covers.”

“Will you come see me when you come back?”

Manuel smiled “You know I will..”

“We’ll have a blast, kiddo.” told him Marco stepping in the living room with a bunch of DVDs in his hand “We’ll have a Disney marathon. We’ll start tonight and end it before Sunday, I swear.”

“Can I go to bed at 10 then?” asked an hopeful Mati to his dad. When Manuel nodded, the child high-fived his babysitter.

“And Mario will be here too.” informed him Marco and Mati smiled even more. Nancy entered the room lazily leaning his head on Manu’s leg and the doctor petted her kindly “Us three and Nancy will have so much fun!”

It sounded like an awesome plan actually.

Manuel would have stayed with them since he had seen very few of Mati but he had no choice. So he checked the hour and sighed resigned.

“I’m going to this dinner then. I’ll see you later. Look, Marco, just one more question…” said the doctor grabbing a hold of the nurse’s arm to talk to him in private “How will I be able to spot him?”

“Who?”

“Who? Really? The guy!”

Reus narrowed his eyes in deep thoughts before smiling briefly “Trust me, you’ll spot him fine. And if he’s late, don’t despair. Now go, go! Get your wonderful butt out there and enter this new sparkling chapter of your life!”

“And you’re overthinking this. See ya!”

He then shut the door behind himself and snorted grabbing the keys of his Audi SUV.

“….oh god, Marco just threw me out of my own house.”

He entered his vehicle and drove till the designed place for his date.

It was asmall Bavarian restaurant where you could order yummy steaks and top-shelf beer. To be honest it wasn’t very fancy but it wasn’t a fast food either.

Manuel had already been there a few times before, with Juan and his colleagues given his tactical position in the town centre.

He parked right outside the pedestrian precinct enjoying the view of Marieplatz full of tourists and boys.  It was the end of November but it was warm outside and Manuel was enjoying the breeze on his neck.

He then took a moment to himself before walking to the restaurant set in one of the side streets and waited outside for ten minutes given that he was early. Manuel was checking out every single man who stepped inside the restaurant but no one seemed to look back at him so he resigned himself.

He would have never spot him, not without knowing how he looked like!

He was just thinking about grabbing a couple of pizzas and going back home when the doctor raised his look and met a man’s eyes. A man he recognized immediately.

Right in front of him, surely more dapper and handsome than Manuel remembered him, there was the man with whom he had had a huge fight a few days earlier.

He had never paid attention to it but Thomas Muller’s eyes were particularly beautiful, especially right there lit by the light of the city at night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'm waiting to read your opinion on this story :DDD  
> See you soon!


	7. If we got a chance pt.I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but I'm really busy in this moment.  
> University such, expecially in Italy.  
> Kisses for everyone who still waiting.  
> No more words, only enjoy!  
> Jessy
> 
> Capitolo in italiano: http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/117102861300/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-sette

It was clear the both of them were uncomfortable.

They both had already realized that their blind date was with the man they had had an argument just five days before.

They stared at each other for a while, unsure about what doing next, until Thomas made a decision for both of them.  “We’re already here. Let’s go inside and grab a bite.”

Manuel ended up nodding, still unsure of what what’s going on, but Thomas was right, they were already there and they had a reservation under the name of Reus they could make good use of.

The restaurant was nice and having dinner with his son’s coach didn’t sound so terrifying after all. Sure, the doctor had heartily invited Thomas to mind his own business but he couldn’t be blamed, could he? It was also true, though, that he might have gone too far…

Manuel had sworn that his job would have never turned him into a frustrated man again, so he put down the menu on the table and took a deep breath.

“Mr Muller...I’d like to apologize.” Manuel started in a very considerate tone looking for a visual contact with the other man who immediately shot up his eyes to meet Manuel’s “I’ve been very rude to you when you said how worried you were about my family and-“

“Thomas. I prefer people calling me Thomas, not sir.” retorted the boy quickly feeling uncomfortable at the doctor’s formality and interrupting the doctor’s speech. Thomas hated the lack of warmth that formality caused, mostly because they were on a date whether they wanted to or not “And we are now on first-names term.”

Manuel slowly nodded “Alright, Thomas… I’m very sorry. Really. I didn’t take it well and I’d like for you to accept my apology.”

The younger man smiled and waved Manuel’s worry away bluntly retorting “Apology accepted. But I’d like to apologize too, Manuel..” waiting before going on to be sure the doctor wasn’t bothered by being called by his first name “I shouldn’t have pried into your family’s affairs. It’s not up to me judging your job. I don’t even know what is like to do something that really matters. I can just imagine what being a doctor is like.”

Manuel was silent for a minute weighting up the other man’s words. It was true indeed. His job wasn’t easy and demanded a lot but if he had really wanted to he could have make up some time to spend with his son or to go seeing a football match.

“You don’t have to apologize though. It’s really nice of you caring so much about the kids you’re training.” Manuel told him smiling while Thomas relaxed visibly.

Every sentence was a stroke of luck; he felt more idiotic than his usual self, he was constantly scared of saying the wrong thing and screwing everything up. But thinking about it, screwing up what? There wasn’t much to screw up but he couldn’t deny that the doctor was very charming man.

Being aware that a man like Manuel would have never looked at someone like him if it wasn’t for his friends, Thomas chose to play his cards right.

First, he ordered a bottle of red wine as soon as the waiter got to their table and then, once they had ordered their courses, Thomas started talking, hoping to have a few more informations about the Doc.

Surprisingly much, Manuel had decided to relax and let the date go as it was meant to as well, throwing off the mask of the standoffish man.

They talked through the waiting for the starters and then through that for the first course covering pretty much every possible subject; they talked more specifically about their jobs, about their past and about Oberschule then high school and university. They also talked a lot about football, joking on Schalke not being as good as in the past and on Bayern being the league leader.

And obviously they talked about Mathiak; they talked about how the child was taking the all moving thing and the new school.

“He’s a strong kid.” Manuel put down his glass on the table before leaning back on his chair to allow the waiter to collect his now emptied plate set in front of him. “It’s never easy adapting to a fresh start even if he looks fine about living here in Munich. Everything is fine at school, but…”

The doctor shut up abruptly and ran his hand on the back of his neck, suddenly uncomfortable.

“…at home it’s not that simple.”

Thomas realized that they were about to enter the most delicate part of their ‘getting to know each other’ night. The subject was Mati’s father – the other one, the unknown one – and Thomas knew nothing about him.

“Mario mentioned briefly that you’re in a less than happy situation.” confessed the coach putting his chin on his intertwined fingers.

Manuel nodded and given that even Marco had mentioned his husband, the doctor decided to reveal a little bit of his personal history.

“My husband is a pretty good lawyer.”

Thomas was perplexed.

“I saw him justifying monstrous actions in court, I saw him winning cases that seemed too much to even present to the judge, but…. he wasn’t man enough to admit to have an affair on my face.”

Oh…ooooh!

Thomas goggled in disbelief because, in front of him, there was the victim of infidelity. But him, on the other hand, he was the cheater.

Wasn’t that ironic? Fate could be very twisted at times.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I used to be sorry too.” confessed bluntly the doctor choosing to open up about that delicate subject for the first time since it had happened and choosing someone who likely wouldn’t have judged his actions. Or maybe he would have but Manuel didn’t care anymore and if their date was meant to turn into something more, then better be safe than sorry and be honest about it.

“But then I rethought the whole thing over and I realized that it wasn’t worth it. We’ve been married for nine years and we decided to start our own family very soon. We’ve been honest from the start. Why taking such a major step? Because _clearly_ it wasn’t enough for him. If he has a new life now and he’s 35, I think I still have my chance to make my fresh start at 28. Don’t you think?”

Thomas was still in shock but he knew what Manuel was going through. If they have been married for nine years, then they would have gotten married at 19. Just like him.

“I get you.” admitted the coach while the main courses were put in front of them and making Thomas’s mouth water once more that night “I’ve gotten married when I was still very young too, _and I’m sure I fucked it up big time!”_

But he didn’t want to admit the last part aloud so he restrained himself.

Manuel smiled in response, it was shy smile, maybe a bit bitter but reassuring.

“But you two were sure of it though, right? I mean, that’s the most important thing. Us, we were really sure of it, maybe stupidly so, but we were.”

That was the sore spot for Thomas. It was the only thing he didn’t want to say aloud. He had never been sure of wanting to marry Lisa. He had even tried to run away from it right before the ceremony but when his father had found him in the middle of the backyard, he hadn’t been brave enough to say ‘dad, I don’t want to get through with this.’

And then, sure, for a couple years he hadn’t regretted it once. He loved Lisa in his own way but the point was that he had never loved her enough and he had stuck with her out of pure selfishness when his football career had gone downhill.

Thomas was so wrapped up in his own thoughts and so busy devouring the steak in front of him that he didn’t notice immediately that Lisa was there, in the same restaurant. He only noticed her when he sawher approaching their table and he almost chocked on a bite of steak.

He took a long drought of wine while the woman – who was chatting happily with her friends – was raising her eyes, just in time to meet his. And suddenly Thomas was freezing; a shiver running down his spine.

The waiter pointed the table next to the one Thomas and Manuel were sitting at to the women and, when Lisa sat next to him, the Bavarian coach was sure he was about to faint.

WHY? WHY NOW? Their date had gone smoothly so far. They had been chatting and having fun and they were so opened about each other that Thomas had even thought that maybe he really stood a chance with the charming doctor but then what?

His wife showed up at the restaurant and sat next to their table.

Someone was clearly conspiring against him.

Manuel seemed acknowledging the problem without fully understanding what that was. He wiped his mouth elegantly with the napkin before leaning in over the table “Is something wrong?”

Something was clearly off given that the coach had turned pale.

Thomas looked at him in disbelief before clearing his throat “No, everything ‘s fine.” answered the coach before watching Lisa. He had to say something before she could realize he was on a date. She would have killed him if she had found out.

“Hi.” Thomas told her leaning a little over the table.

She glared at him before putting her joined hands on the wooden table “Hi.”

It was the first time they were talking to each other after their fight on the training pitch. And _obviously_ the first time they had to meet again after she had threw him out had to be the night of his date.

“How are you?” Thomas asked her, but she didn’t seem interested in small talks.

She seemed very interested in Manuel though if her eyes darting from his husband to the other man were any indication. She was clearly evaluating the way the two men were dressed – she was interested given that she had only seen Thomas wearing tracksuits – and the closeness of the two men sat at the small table with a red candle between them.

“He doesn’t look like one of your colleagues.” commented Lisa as if she was weighted up the whole situation. “You don’t introduce us?”

“Hmmm…he’s Manuel.” started off Thomas anxiously, staring at Manuel and panicking given that the blond man in front of him looked like he was waiting for an explanation “We are…”

“Old friends.” Manuel caught him off guard and shook Lisa’s hand. It had taken him a couple of seconds to understand who that woman was and who she was in Thomas’s life.

“I moved away a long time ago, when we were kids and now that I’m back here in Munich, Thomas offered to chaperon me until I settle again.” answered Manuel smiling in a very polite way that seemed to trick her.

Lisa smiled back at him shaking his hand “Nice to meet you, Manuel. I’m Lisa.”

His wife.

Manuel let the hand fall down gently before turning back to the guy in front of him pointing at the other man’s plate “Let’s finish this up, we have to meet with the others in a few.”

Thomas would have kissed him right there but he stopped before blowing the whole thing up. He quickly nodded before focusing back on his steak and realizing that maybe their night had been ruined.

Maybe Manuel didn’t want to go on with their date after that whole charade.

They cleared up their plates and when the waiter asked them if they wanted the desserts menu, Manuel shook his head and asked for the bill.

They paid and left quickly finding themselves in Marieplatz once again, staring in each other’s eyes. Thomas was deadly sure that the next sentence coming from the doctor’s mouth would have been something along the line of ‘I guess we’ll meet again on a match day’. Something vague, clear enough for him to understand Manuel was dumping him.

But Manuel surprised him once again that night.

“Well… Where can a man have a good beer around here?”

**

Mandy had always hated those who tend to parade their wealth.

That’s the reason why he had thought he was a bit hypocrite of him to book a reservation in Munich’s most exclusive restaurant – the Ratskeller, it was well-known that it was one of those restaurants where to book a reservation you had to have some kind of connection with Angela Merkel - just to offer a dinner to his ‘best friend’ Antoine.

Sure, that was a real date, even if he had still to come to terms with his latent homosexuality. Something that still troubled him.

But Antoine seemed perfectly at ease in his well-fitted grey jacket on a pair of jeans that looked very elegant, with his coiffed hair and his perfect moustache.

Mandy had been set over heels with him since the first time they had laid eyes on each other and that’s why he was trying to pretend they were on a business dinner.

His attempt had failed when Antoine had put his hand on the other man’s, next to the napkin, starting to tell him about the afternoon he had spent with his younger brother and his dog.

But, at the end of the day, their story wasn’t so bad.

They were both single men and the only problem they could have had in their future came from work: leaving everything else aside, Mandy was Antoine’s boss even if lots of people in charge screwed their assistants.

And no one cared about it.

“And you? What did you do today?” asked the younger man tilting his head to stare into his man’s eyes who, in response, blushed.

They could have skipped the dinner and went home to have dessert instead if the way Antoine was looking at him was any indication. Suddenly the room seemed to get hotter and Mandy was about to answer Toine’s provocation when he stopped abruptly when he saw something that left him speechless.

A few tables from theirs, a waiter had just escorted Sebastian Rode and Basti, both well-dressed and composed, to their table.

It took him a few moments to fully understand what was going on. Then he simply jumped.

What was Sebastian doing in a restaurant that was well-known to be a romantic hangout for couples? How could he afford a restaurant where you had to book a reservation a month in advance?

So Mandy sunk down into his chair by instinct drawing his date’s attention who immediately asked _‘çava?_ ’ before turning around and spotting the unusual couple too.

Mario pulled him toward himself to stop the other from stealing a glance at their colleagues before whispering “Stop it! Let’s not make ourselves known!”

Antoine looked confused.

“ _Pourquoi pas?”_ asked the French assistant with a smile before leaning even further towards his lover’s face “Maybe they’re just on a business date like us…”

“Don’t even start on that.” ordered him the boss while the waiter brought them some starters before their first course. The Croatian man dismissed him quickly, unconsciously holding Toine’s hands in the middle of the table “Does it look like a date to you?”

The French man shrugged a bit before spotting a large glass in front of them.

“Bend down for me.” told him to his boss smirking and pushing him down a bit to have a better view of the table behind theirs “Hmm… well, they are all dressed up and they’re laughing… maybe yes, a bit but we can’t really be sure.”

Mandy sighed deeply sitting straight again “That’s not okay.”

Antoine seemed to finally realize what was going on “Do you think his husband knows about it?”

“I think Poldi doesn’t suspect a thing.”

They stared at each other for a while and when they finally moved their gaze back to the table, as discreetly as they could manage, they found two pairs of eyes to watch them back.

Sebastian looked on the verge of a breakdown, red in the face and slightly uncomfortable. But surely not as uncomfortable as Bastian was. Schweinsteiger was as red as a lobster and was waving slowly to greet them but it looked like he was just trying to forget they were really there.

Antoine smiled back broadly waving back while Mandy, slightly frustrated, was sighing and running a hand on the back of his neck.

_Great, just..great._

**

Their date had taken a turn for the good when they had started drinking in the pub where Thomas usually went with his friends. It was even better now that both Manuel and Thomas had agreed that they hadn’t really met the coach’s wife a while before and that they wouldn’t have mentioned the accident for the rest of the night.

The Bavarian man was more than surprised by the man in front of him: Manuel was a complete different person from what he had imagined him to be. Thomas had guessed that the doctor should have been an uptight man, clearly more intelligent than the coach himself and that, because of all these reasons, he would have never considered going out with Thomas.

But Manuel was funny, maybe a little shy, but adorable once he was comfortable with the person next to him, once he had dropped the mask of the strict man.

That was just the right adjective to describe the man.

Everything he would do would have been charming: the way his cheeks flushed because of the alcohol, the way he wrinkled his nose when he smiled that made him look like a kitten, the way he could entertain you with an excited speech when he let himself be caught by the subject…

He was really lovely and Thomas began to feel like a 15-year-old girl having her first crush. That feeling he had felt the first time he had met Manuel in his office.

It has to be said that, on his part, Manuel was having more fun than he had thought he would have had. He had never gone out with someone so different from him, so genuine and outgoing.  
To be honest though Manuel had gone out with just two more men in his life, not even considering his husband. Both the times had gone really terribly and, for someone as insecure as Manuel, had meant that it was probably better avoiding being himself in front of the others for fear to be judged.

And yet he could be himself with Thomas, with no fear at all. They could talk about football, tv series or even about the weather forecast; the thing was that talking came easily to both of them, it felt natural. He didn’t have to control himself or to put on airs. He could just laugh vulgarly to the boy’s jokes and enjoy his night out.

But time was passing quickly and he had to go home to Mathiak.

Manuel glanced at the Rolex on his wrist and told Thomas “I’m sorry but I have to go…it’s way too late for me.”

Unfortunately, he had a son at home and even if he trusted Marco, the doctor didn’t want to waste an opportunity to tuck up Mati under his blankets.

And it looked like Thomas was sympathetic to his situation given that he stood up with no resistance and refraining himself from asking the doctor to stay a bit longer. The coach got his wallet out and sparked off a war on who should have paid the bill.

So the younger man justified himself turning to the doctor and saying“This is on me, you offered me the dinner, that’s the least I can do!” and slipping a banknote to the bartender to pay for their beers and to tip him.

“Alright, you win. I’ll pay next time then!”

And right there Thomas’s heart did a funny flip while they were exiting the pub and walking back to their cars. Had he just said he want to go out again? With him?

The Bavarian coach smiled by instinct, trying not to skip next to his date and ending up by putting his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

“Okay then!”

Thomas winked at the doctor and enjoyed the view of Manuel’s cheeks flushing slightly once more.

They had now reached Marieplatz and were standing right under NeuesRathaus looking at each other. They had stopped there, unsure on what was up next.

“My car is this way.”

Thomas had spoken first pointing at the parking lot behind the city hall, the usual spot where he parked it whenever he went to the pub with his friends.

“Mine is that way.” answered him Manuel, pointing at one of the side streets next to the building.

It would have been too much to ask to go in the same direction, _obviously._

So silence fell once more and it was as awkward as it had been at the beginning of their night.

Ironically enough, they were both wondering the same thing: “ _Should I kiss him? Should I shake his hand? Or at least smile politely and just say that we’ll see each other soon?”_

Given that Manuel looked the most ill at ease between the two of them – proving once more how clumsy he was when it came to being social – Thomas decided to speak and save the day.

“Right. So I’m going but first… we could meet up again next weekend maybe, if you’re not busy that is.”

The doctor smiled and nodded slowly, unconsciously getting closer “I’d love to.” And he even admitted, but just to himself, that he would have loved to turn it into a weekly thing..

“Perfect! So here’s my number, you can call me whenever you’re free!” said Thomas gesticulating barely containing the emotion. The doctor had agreed on meeting him again!! “I’m always free so you can literally call me whenever you want.”

“Sure!” Manuel brought his hand to the pocket and…oh no! He frowned looking for his cell phone in every pocket of his jacket before remembering what had happened that night. And he whispered “Marco” rolling his eyes, clearly upset “He took my phone away to stop me from calling I--- I’m sorry Thomas.”

“Oh.” Thomas looked at him with disappointment but he tried to pretend he wasn’t “Don’t worry, we can meet at one of Mati’s matches or just talk after one of the trainings if you come to pick him up.”

Like a fool, Thomas thought Manuel was making everything up. Maybe the doctor had quickly thought about it and realized he didn’t want to commit himself. Maybe he didn’t like Thomas enough. Maybe he had just wanted to enjoy himself for a couple of hours. Maybe ---

“No, wait!”

Manuel stopped Thomas’s stream of consciousness by retrieving a small piece of paper and passing it to him. Thomas took it confused, carefully looking at it before realizing that Manuel had handed him the business card of the restaurant they had had dinner at. Only when Manuel took a pen from the inside pocket of his jacket, the coach understood what was going on “Write down your number here. I’ll put it on my phone as soon as I get home.”

Coming out of his stupor, the younger man wrote down his number trying to write it as clear as he could manage, before handing the card back to the other man who folded it in his pocket carefully.

“So you’re gonna call me sometime?”

Manuel smirked before raising an eyebrow “Well…if it happens.”

Thomas’s heart leapt but then a smiled crept up on his face; he could avoid looking at the doctor’s face. It was probably stupid fooling himself enough to believe he had made an impressionon that handsome, charming man but if he had gone thought the trouble of reacting that awkward scene for Thomas, then it probably meant something.

Maybe it meant everything.

“Goodnight Manuel”

“Goodnight Thomas.”

They shared one last knowing smile then they both turned on their heels, walking back to their cars.

Once he turned around the corner, Thomas couldn’t control himself anymore. He did a funny skip, turning on himself and leaning on the wall of an ancient building looking up to the sky.

A 15-year-old girl in love.A stupid 15-year-old girl in love.

Smiling was almost painful by then but he couldn’t help himself. He shut his eyes closed, sighed heavily and tried to re-affect his composure even if there was no turning back now.

He was madly in love with Manuel Neuer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please tell my what do you think abount the chapter :D  
> See you as soon as possible!


	8. If we got a chance pt.II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay.  
> I hope you still read it!  
> You guys are amazing and in particular the girls who said to me what they thought about last chapter.   
> Enjoy the new one.   
> See you soon, love to all.  
> J. 
> 
>  
> 
> Per gli italiani. come al solito trovate qui la versione originale:  
> http://jessydestroy.tumblr.com/post/119974078680/you-cant-predict-the-end-capitolo-otto

“…Then we said our goodbyes and we parted. End of the story.”  
Three sets of eyes were focused on him even if he had officially ended telling them about it. And to stress the fact that he wasn’t going to talk anymore, Thomas took a sip from his beer not succeeding in wiping that smile from his face – a smile that had been plastered on him since the past Saturday. To be honest, since his date with Manuel.  
The first one to comment on it was Mandy while Bastian chuckled at the smirk on Thomas’s face and Antoine sighed dreaming of the romance  
“Let me get this straight… you went on a date with Doc McDreamy and it went well even after all the drama –including your wife’s ambush at the restaurant – and you didn’t fuck him?”  
“We didn’t kiss either to be honest.”  
“Shush!” Toine slapped Mandy’s back before leaning towards Thomas with a smile “Very romantic, like the movies.”  
“WHATTHEFUCK!” the big Croatian guy didn’t seem ready to drop it “FINALLY you actually go on a date with him despite the whole thing was born under such an unlucky star and everything you can get is a ‘maybe I’ll call you?’ Has he, at least, called you yet?”  
Thomas took one more sip of his beer losing the aforementioned smile. It has to be said that it has passed less than two whole days. Certainly Manuel had spent his Sunday with Mati away from football matches and from the hospital and he had probably gotten lost among parenting stuff and so he hadn’t had enough time to call him. Then Monday had come along and even if Thomas was at the pub wasting his time, Manuel had probably just got off work.  
“I’m sure he will.” chimed in Bastian who had been unusually quiet all night. Thomas hadn’t missed how Bastian had been glaring at Mandy all night long but either the Croatian was a great actor and was pretending not to notice it or it wasn’t nothing worth worrying about.   
Thomas could read him without really trying like an open book made of old pages full of well-known scenes. Either the coach knew him that well or Basti wasn’t a good actor.  
“I’m sure too.” insisted the French assistant before kicking his partner in the shins. In response Mandy rolled his eyes and snorted.  
“Of course he will.” agreed Mandy with the most politically correct tone he could manage “But if he doesn’t..”  
While Antoine resumed insulting the big guy at his right side, Thomas tried to enjoy the scene in front of him. He hadn’t even considered the possibility of Manuel not calling him but now, doing so, in a certain way the whole after-date spell had been broken.  
His beer suddenly tasted sourer and he was actually planning on leaving when Robert showed up.  
Saying that Lewandowski was mad would have been the understatement of the year.  
Not everyone was able to see it but when the doctor had that spark in his icy eyes – despite the usual neutral expression – it was kind of scary.   
All four friends noticed it because while the couple stopped their fighting, Bastian came out of his silence and flashed him an unconvinced smile “Hey man, what’s with the sulking! Something wrong?”  
“Neuer is wrong.” answered the Polish man raising his hand to draw the attention of one of the bartenders “One neat vodka, please.”  
Bastian and Thomas exchanged one concerned look. It was unusual for Robert to drink during the week. He used to say that it could compromise his career…  
“What’s wrong with Thomas’ doc?” asked Mandy and suddenly Thomas was looking daggers at him. That shut the Croatian guy up.  
It was clearly not the right moment for it.  
“Let me explain what’s wrong with that son of a bitch!” yelled Robert with a tone that didn’t leave room for interruptions. They had never witnessed this kind of anger from the Polish man, not even when he had been caught in way more compromising situations.   
“The report he filed against me was so good that the hospital commission took disciplinary measures.”   
While explaining Robert took that glass of vodka in his hand and examined it carefully.   
“Lahm gave me a ‘disciplinary lay-off’ – he practically grounded me until they decide whether to reinstate me or not. However for now I don’t work in pediatrics anymore given that the ‘lay-off’ has immediate effect.”  
“Where are you working now?” dared to ask Thomas caressing the other’s arm as if he was scared that Robert could withdrawn. When he didn’t, Thomas held him near the elbow.  
“ER. Night shift.”  
Shit.  
No one among them, except for Robert, was a doctor...but it was obvious that working at night and most of all in the ER wasn’t going to be easy.  
He would have missed a few things from the not-so-important Thursday football match to the possibility of spending some quality time with Andrej and his wife given that he would have had to spend the day sleeping in order to survive to the night shift.  
Lewa drank the whole glass before wrinkling his nose “I can’t decide what I hate more, this situation or this so called vodka…” He took a brief pause before starting to laugh quietly, it was a nervous tick and it was the sign that his frustration had won him over “That asshole. I can’t believe it, he’s….I can’t even tell you how much I loathe Manuel Neuer!”  
“I’m sorry Robert” commented then Antoine wearing his heart on his sleeve and making the Polish doctor smile a little. “If I had some Croatian friends, I’d send them to beat the commission up.”  
“…Wait a minute! Why should they be Croatian?” asked Mandy shooting his head up. The question remained unanswered though because it was 8.45 PM and Antoine had insisted a lot about being at home on time to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  
Thomas seized the opportunity. He landed a kiss on the back of Robert’s neck leaving him with Bastian lying about his need of the toilette, and he hurried to join the couple on the outside.   
Thankfully Mandy had stopped to light a cigarette so they hadn’t gone too far.  
The Bavarian coach hadn’t time to waste. He folded his arms on his chest trying to protect himself from the cold given that the thin lumberjack-styled jacket couldn’t warm him in the German autumn that had finally come. “What’s happening to Bastian? It looked like he was staring at a ghost but, actually, he was just looking at you.”  
Mandy took a long drag while Toine held his hand, their fingers intertwined “If I tell you, you’ll keep it to yourself or the whole city will know about it in less than two hours?”  
“Do you know me at all?”  
“I know you wouldn’t want to be the cause of a wrecked family.”  
Thomas had never thought of himself as a genius. He had never even considered the possibility of attending a few classes at the University or spending time on whichever book but the one for the driving school. But he wasn’t dumb.  
Thomas shrugged and checked that no one had followed him outside before resuming their conversation, not sure if he would have liked the answers he was going to receive “What did he do?”  
Mandy exchanged a few looks with his boyfriend before snorting irritated and blowing out the smoke from his nose like a raging bull “Look, we don’t know what we witnessed…We might be wrong..”  
“So? You telling me or not? Spill it out!”  
Toine spoke first and he spoke more bluntly than usual “The other night while we were out on a date, we found him at the restaurant. He was with Sebastian Rode, one of his colleagues. Just the two of them and it looked pretty intimate at least until they noticed us and they just stood there almost frozen. We don’t know what that dinner was supposed to be but they came in together like an happy couple would do and they left after a quick dinner almost running like two thieves caught by the police.”  
Robert’s problems and now this. It was quickly becoming a very busy night.  
Thomas hid his face in his hands, dejected. Then he sighed “Okay, don’t panic. Keep this information to yourselves…and let’s hope it will go away.”  
“We were already keeping it to ourselves.” retorted Mandy before looking at him discouraged too. “I’m worried about Poldi and their children.”  
He really didn’t want to doubt his best friend but Thomas had to admit that he was worried.   
Very, very worried.  
**  
Wondering about Bastian’s unusual behavior meant that Thomas hadn’t thought about Manuel. But of course the spell had been broken again thanks to Marco and Mario and now the coach was really frustrated.  
He had decided to come back home when sadness had killed their usual joyful atmosphere feeling shitty about not offering to ‘comfort’ Robert. But he wasn’t in the right mood for it.  
At least he hadn’t been until he had entered Gotze’s apartment.  
At first, he hadn’t really understood what was going on.  
He had entered putting his keys on the shelf and his coat on the coat rack. His attention had been drawn by moans but he really couldn’t imagine what he was about to witness.  
Every sound was coming from the couch where you could have sworn someone was filming a porn ; Marco Reus, naked and sweating, was riding Mario – a couple of wisps of his perfectly coiffed hair the only signs of his presence near the arm rest.   
Thomas was in trance, his eyes fixed on the blond man who was breathing heavily, moaning while raising himself and coming down on the other almost dancing to some sort of song in his head.  
When their eyes met, Thomas wished the ground would open and swallow him up. But Marco didn’t seem fazed by his presence. On the contrary he looked quite pleased. He smiled lightly putting a hand on the back of the couch to lever himself up and increase the rhythm.  
And Thomas was dumbfounded.  
And then, as much as he tried to, he couldn’t stop his body – or at least one specific part of it – from getting up.   
“Okay guys.” thundered Thomas caught between arousal and embarrassment but not too much bothered by the scene playing in front of him.  
“Keep going please like I wasn’t even here… and like you aren’t fucking in the place where I usually sleep. I’ll be having a cold shower if you look for me.”  
Mario’s hands landed on Marco’s shoulders most likely to stop him and to start apologizing for that embarrassing scene. No. He just sat up obliging his boyfriend to stop – disappointment could be easily found on Marco’s face – and to ask Thomas about something that, in the context, didn’t make sense at all.  
“Did you feed Perla this morning?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“The cat. Did you feed the cat?”  
Of all the possible reasons to pause such a fuck, that was the most ridiculous of them. Thomas breathed to stop himself from flipping the other off.   
“Yes Mario. Yes. Now resume what you were doing.”  
“Thanks.” commented the shorter one “You’re a friend!”   
One last broad smile before diving back onto his previous activity.  
In less than two seconds Marco was onto him again.  
“I love you two very much and I found all of this a real turn on but you’re very rude given that I’m not getting anything.”  
Marco stared at him bewildered while Mario yelled ‘Call Lewa!’  
“Robert is not in the mood.” answered briefly the coach even if he wasn’t really sure of it. And he was regretting not saying anything about it…  
“We’re sorry!” answered back Marco going back to swinging “But Mario was giving me a massage on my ankle..”  
“…and I guess the shift from your ankle to your dick must have happened shortly after…”  
The blond man glared at him “Rude.”  
“That’s ironic coming from the one whose screwing my roommate in front of me!” and with one last shrug Thomas went to the bathroom.  
But Reus wasn’t finished yet “Hey Thomas!”  
He waited for the coach to turn around before asking “Did Manuel call you?”  
Thomas didn’t answer immediately.  
A pause.  
A brief smile.  
And “Not yet!”  
The bathroom door slammed shut a few moments later. Marco bent over Mario kissing him slowly before smiling knowingly and resuming what they were doing before Thomas interrupted them.  
He would have thought of Manuel later.  
**  
Manuel was starting to worry about Mathiak.  
He was always so tired at night, Manuel was baffled.  
Sure, he went to school every day, came back home to do his homework and the kid hadn’t even the time to breathe given that he had to go to his football practice later…  
But it was odd nonetheless.  
Mati had always been such a charismatic kid and now, seeing him dragging himself to his bed at night was making Manuel worried.  
Maybe it was time to get him seem by a sports doctor given that the fitness certificate had been signed by Manuel himself, taking for granted his son’s health. He had always kept checking on him and he had never showed any problem.  
But maybe Marco and Claudia, Julian’s mom, were right; they were just hyperactive children and they were ready to drop at night.  
Manuel was slowly realizing how much his work was influencing his life and how apprehensive he was becoming. He didn’t want to be one of those hypochondriac doctors ready to make a drama out of a single cough but he had only Mati and he had to take care of his son.  
He didn’t have an husband anymore because the other had preferred a Spanish handsome but shallow little man to him.  
He didn’t have his parents either. They had slowly lost contact when Manuel had openly come out and had expressed his desire to have a family on his own.  
His brother had his own family, his beautiful girlfriend and his gorgeous children. His mind was elsewhere.  
So there were Mati and him left.  
The mere idea of something happening to his son was driving him paranoid. He was now worried of the most obvious things like the fact that if a boy had such a busy life, he would need to rest to keep up his energies.   
He had to calm down, he was too worried.  
Manuel stood up from his chair in the living room intended to fill in some paperwork before going to sleep. To do that though, he needed his glasses so he went to the hallway to rummage in his coat pockets. When he found them, they weren’t alone.   
In between the frames of his glasses there was the business card of a restaurant and on top of it, written in an almost illegible calligraphy, a cell number.  
Manuel hadn’t forgotten about Thomas.  
He had dreamed about their date a lot, he had wondered how it could have ended if he hadn’t been a maybe too strict father and in the end he had decided to call him.  
But he had been postponing the call ever since.  
With that small treasure in his hands, Manuel went back to his studio and sat at his mahogany desk. To be sure not to forget, he saved the number in the phone book.  
Then he just stared at it, unsure. He could call, it was just 11.30PM and Thomas would have been awake still according to what he had gathered on their first and so far last date.   
And yet…  
And yet something was keeping him from doing it.  
He chewed his bottom lip, well aware that he had been avoiding something for far too long now. He had to face it because he was starting to really care about Thomas and he didn’t want to lose that opportunity because of his moral conduct.  
So he put aside every doubts he had and made the call.  
He held his breath and tried to be brave when, on the fifth ring, a hoarse voice answered the call.  
“…Hi Iker! It’s me…It’s Manuel.”  
It was time to have that conversation.


End file.
